Shattered: The Hearts That Can't Move On
by xpetunia
Summary: After being abandoned by her family at age 12, Jocelyn Stone moves in with her Aunt Darcy and her adopted son Peter, and their dog named Bubba. For years, she's been working at Antonio's Pizza, practices kickboxing, and attending school. However, Jocelyn's dreadful past still remains and conceals her depression. Then, four turtles appear before her... LeoxOC LeoxKarai RaphxOC
1. Chapter 1: Commencement

**~~~ Author's Notes**

**First and Foremost. This story contains deep and reality stuff. But it also contains happy moments too so it ain't that depressing. There will be action so no worries! **

**Lemme just warn you people. This is a TurtlexHuman story, so if you don't like, DONT READ. **  
><strong>Secondly, this is my very first story I have ever made in my entire lifetime. So please be kind about my grammar errors. <strong>  
><strong>Thirdly, this is a slow-pace story so the main character won't be fallin' for anyone...yet. Maybe in a few chapters or so, I promise you. You will know when she fell for him. <strong>  
><strong>Also, this focuses on the main character, which is an OC girl, so there won't be alot of turtles scenes yet. I also want to describe more on other characters as well so it won't be just the main character. But of course, there ARE turtles in this story 'cause IT'S A TMNT STORY. :D <strong>

**Also, BE CAUTIOUS that THIS STORY IS NOT GOING TO BE IN ORDER IN THE SHOW. I'd have to change some things to it if I'm going to make this story a bit more sense and interesting. So, I've decided Karai being a good person, cause I'm basically sick of people making her evil in the show even though she really isn't. In this story, she still works with her FAKE father Shredder however, she is confused about her existence and why she belongs in the Foot. Also, the turtles do not know that she's Splinter's daughter, so there are a few complications going on when Leo hangs out with her. Plus, the story goes on when they accidentally scattered the mutagen tanks around the city. It's confusing, I know because these happens in different seasons in the show BUT there's a reason for this! I am editing a few things for the Alien Invasion. ...Spoiler alert. Basically, I'm putting all these problems together in this story. So LOTS AND LOTS OF PROBLEMS. And to spice it up a little, I will put in the romance.~ (Sorry if this was too long...) **

**Leave any messages if you're confused. So anyways, please enjoy reading it! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Commencement<strong>

_Her vision turned black. She was trapped, surrounded by strangers screaming and holding cameras._

_"Ella! Ella! Look over here!"_

_"How do you feel about being in the Cover Girl magazine?"_

_"Ms. Stone, are you having a romantic relationship again?"_

_"Did you have a fight with one of your relatives?"_

_'Ella,' she thought. 'That's my sister.' Her vision came clear and her light brown eyes widened, alarmed that she was now facing her sister._

_She was tall and gorgeous. Her vanilla blonde hair went down to her waist, right in the middle of her short red dress. Her hazel eyes glowed like glittering stars in space. Her skin looked flawless, tanned and silky from head to toe. Ella looked like a beautiful goddess.__Tension filled the air when she spoke._

_"Jocelyn?"_

_Everything about her was irritating. She hated it._

_She turned the opposite way and ran. She didn't want to face her sister. Not ever. She could still hear that voice, calling her name in the distance._

_"Jocelyn! Jocelyn, please wait!"_

_Jocelyn's vision flashed white by the cameras around her. "No! Go away!" She violently pushed away the people encircling her. Suddenly, more people appeared and surrounded her, making her feel claustrophobic. "No…go away…help…" Her vision went hazy and the voices all around her started to fade before she fainted on the red carpet. Emma's voice echoed in the distance._

_"Jocelyn! Jocelyn!"_

_"Jocelyn!"_

"..celyn!"

"JOCELYN!"

Jocelyn whipped her head up from the counter, surprised by the sudden voice coming from her 67 year-old manager, Pepe Antonio de Villeton. He owned one of the most famous restaurants in New York City called Antonio's Pizza. Thank the Lord she was back to reality. She never wanted to experience that dream again. Suddenly, she received a powerful thump on her head by her boss, who had been holding a dough roller.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep on the job?!"

Pepe's voice was extremely loud; it made her ear split apart. His shouting attracted the people inside the restaurant, making her situation worse.

"Sorry, Pepe. I didn't have enough sleep last night..."

"'Not enough sleep'?! This is the _fourth time_ this week I caught you doing this!"

Noticing the people looking at their direction, he sighed, calming himself down a little. "Jocelyn, at least try to stay awake. Go to sleep a bit earlier next time."

Jocelyn pressed both hands over her eyes, feeling worn out after that nightmare. "I'm sorry."

"…Did something happen recently making you lose your naptime? Do you want a break?"

Although Pepe was a strict middle aged man, he was also sympathetic. Whenever someone in the job was having a tough time, he was there to assist you, even if it wasn't related to the job. But get the man angry, and you'd end up having broken bones in every inch of your body. That's why Pepe was one of her favorite people. He seemed more like her grandfather than her boss.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. Nothing really happened, Pepe. I promise I'll try to get some more sleep tonight."

"Alright then. But be prepared 'cause you'll be delivering tomorrow."

Ah yes. Delivering pizza was her favorite. No, not really. It _sucked_. Jocelyn was never the sociable person in high school so she hated seeing other people, especially when the person who ordered the pizza turns out to be one of the students in her school. Yeah, if that ever happens, she'd commit suicide. She could almost imagine them laughing at her Antonio's Pizza outfit. Truly embarrassing. Pepe knew she hated to be the delivery girl but it was the only way to keep her awake.

Her work-shift was over at 7:30 P.M., so she grabbed her skateboard and headed home. By the time she got to her apartment building she stopped at the door, room 103. When she stepped into the room after fitting her keys in the keyhole, she was greeted by a Great white Pyrenees. "Hey, Bubba!" she happily opened her arms as the large dog tackled the girl, licking her right cheek.

"Momma! Jocelyn's home!" shouted a 6-year-old boy; Peter Stone, who had been adopted by Jocelyn's aunt. He sat on the small couch in the living room watching SpongeBob.

Jocelyn sat on the couch and smiled. "Hey, Pete. How was school today?"

"It was good. We learned math today!"

"Oh, really?" she asked the boy, as if math was a good thing. Jocelyn never loved math. She hated it with a passion.

He cheerfully nodded. "Yup! I like math!"

"That's _great_!" She lied. Peter didn't know how evil math could be sometimes. Well, the boy was still young. One day, he'd change his mind.

"Dinner's in the fridge, hon'." She turned around to face her aunt, Darcy Stone, who had just finished drying her damp auburn hair.

"Thanks, Auntie. But I couldn't really focus on work today and now I'm tired. I'll eat it in the morning." Jocelyn got up from her seat and ruffled Pete's brown hair. "Anything new at work?"

Aunt Darcy sighed. "Not a single report. Everything's about the stupid weather and robbing banks. I want to discover something new, something that will blow people's minds away! And I've been waiting for 3 weeks."

Her light brown orbs enlarged, looking over at her Aunt. "Shit, for 3 weeks?! At least report about the people robbing banks. You can't just wait for something to happen! It'll take forever!" Peter wasn't startled by her reaction. He was too focused on SpongeBob singing the Campfire Song Song, He began to sing along.

Aunt Darcy slouched on the couch, "I tried, but apparently the boss desires something that's motivating. If my crew and I don't have anything in four days, we're done for. Do me a favor, will ya? Just keep your eyes peeled open for anything that's interesting and inform it to me."

Darcy looked like a dead beat hippo. Was her boss really that eager to discover a new story? Whatever the reason is, it was giving her aunt a difficult time. 'Cause the look on her aunt's face wasn't attractive like it always was. Her appearance looked like she didn't sleep once in 3 three days, maybe more. She really needed her help.

"I'll keep a look-out."

Her aunt formed a small smile. "Thanks, hon'. And make sure you get to sleep _early_ this time." That last part sounded annoyed. Truth to be told, Jocelyn did have a habit of staying up late, thanks to her aunt having bought her the iPhone 4S. But today, she needed a massive amount of sleep.. Tomorrow was a big day for her.

She walked into her small bedroom. The walls were painted turquoise and the floor was made out of wood. One bunk bed above her desk, a closet, two windows, a bookshelf, and almost all the furniture every bedroom has. Apart from having a TV; she really needed that. But either way, she quite enjoyed having her own bedroom for once. Back then, she had to share with her sister.

Forcefully, Jocelyn shook the thoughts away. She changed into her Totoro footie pajamas, tied her wavy strawberry blonde hair into a bun, and prepared her outfit for school tomorrow; a tank top with high-wasted short, Jordan sneakers, and a beanie. Not too plain, not too much. Thinking about school made her cringe. Not that she hated the school; she just hated some people there. You didn't even have to know why. It's pretty obvious. 'Cause it was high school.

She glanced at the clock on the wall; it said 11:30. "Damn. Already?" She cautiously opened her door, checking if her Aunt was asleep. And thank the Lord she was. Jocelyn imagined what would've happened if she wasn't; she'd sleep on a hospital bed that night.

She climbed on her bunk bed and turned off the lights. Snuggling beneath the blanket and finding a comfortable position, she began to lose consciousness.

_CRASH!_

Jocelyn opened her eyes and looked at the window where she heard the loud crash. "What the hell was that?" Suddenly, more noises came. She heard the sounds of metal clashing and…beams shooting? She frowned, thinking it was those stupid teenagers playing around in the alleyways again. "Annoying brats. I'll seriously pound them this time!"

Stomping her feet furiously on the floor, she opened her window and looked out to growl and shout at the kids. And it appears that it wasn't kids… or humans! Horrified, she couldn't believe the sight she was seeing. Right before her eyes was sixteen mechanical robots battling against four giant turtles…TURTLES.

Jocelyn rapidly moved into the darkness of her room, carefully making sure she was hidden from the strange-looking creatures. '_W-What should I do?!'_ she thought in panic. '_I should tell Aunt Darcy about this!'_

Then something clicked.

She remembered what Aunt Darcy had said. '_I want to discover something new, something that will blow people's minds away!' Do me a favor, will ya? Just keep your eyes peeled open for anything that's interesting and inform it to me.'_

Jocelyn knew. This would be the perfect opportunity to record a video and show it to Aunt Darcy! Though they looked a little odd, it would certainly be interesting! It was perfect! '_This could help Aunt Darcy out with her work. The video will be seen from country to country. And we'll become rich and famous! Ha! Suck on that, Channel 6!'_

One problem; Jocelyn wasn't sure if the creatures were real and not just some random people in costumes. She took a peek at the creatures. They all looked so focused on their enemies while they attacked them. It seems like the turtles were winning. '_They look real to me.'_ She grabbed her iPhone and started to record each turtle carefully.

First, she concentrated on the tall purple-masked turtle. Jocelyn could see differences between the four turtles, and not just because of their color-coded eyewear. Apparently, the purple turtle was the tallest among the other turtles with an olive green skin tone. His hands grasped tightly around a 6 foot-tall Bo staff. The turtle twirled his Bo staff as he took a few steps towards the mechanical robot. Creating a special surprise attack, he lunched forward, placing the staff vertically while using it to lift his weight up and strike the mechanical robot with his foot. Without turning around, he swung his staff on the next opponent coming up behind him and knocked him down. It was like he knew the robot was coming all along.

"Incredible," she muttered to herself. "Never knew I would see four giant reptiles fighting in real life."

Suddenly, Jocelyn was startled by a guy's voice. "BOOYAKASHA!"

Due to the sudden holler, she turned her phone around to view where the voice had come from.

The phone examined an orange-masked turtle. Unlike the purple turtle, this certain creature has a lime-green skin tone with freckles on both of his cheeks. He also happened to be the smallest of the turtles. He smirked as he defeated one of the mechanical robots with his nunchuks. He looked over his shoulder as three robots surrounded him, gripping their guns. Lifting his nunchuks, he began to spin and twirl them. His sudden speed was too expeditious for the robots to make their attack. The turtle swung his weapon at a 180 degree angle, striking them all down in one shot.

"Aww yeah, dudes! Three points for Mikey!" he shouted, doing a quick victory dance. Jocelyn giggled at the sight. His dance was interrupted by a large hand, hitting the little guy on the head.

"Now's not the time to do your stupid victory dances, Mikey," said another turtle who wore a red mask.

Jocelyn immediately moved her phone and observed the red-masked turtle. Compared to the other turtles, he had the darkest skin tone. The red-masked turtle was also the second smallest. But despite his height, he wore a tough look and seemed the most buff out of all the turtles. He focused back on his enemies and dashed towards the robot, leaping onto the mechanical machine. He violently stabbed it multiple times with his two sai.

Jocelyn winced at the sight. She saw the slimy brain-like creatures crawl away from its damaged robot, frightened.

_'Damn. If I was in that situation, I'd do the same,'_ she thought to herself, still cringing at the brutal scene.

Attempting to ignore the cruel sight, she held her phone over the last turtle.

This turtle was the second tallest among the others. He wore a blue mask and had a forest-green skin tone. Evaluating the differences between him and the rest, he seemed to Jocelyn to be more serious and focused on his opponents than the others. He patiently raised his two ninjato swords, making a perfect fighting stance. He patiently waited for sudden movements of the mechanical robots to begin so he could perform his attack. Tension began to develop as Jocelyn zoomed in on her phone to create a better view. The robots launched forward, shooting beams at the turtle. He sprinted and quickly deflected the beams with his swords. The blue-masked turtle flipped twice into the air, swiping straight through the robot's body. Still keeping his stern face, he looked over at the left-over robots. He dashed forward and gracefully sliced them all in half.

Jocelyn was astonished. She never witnessed such bizarre creatures battling like this before. After the combat, Jocelyn saw the rest of the brain-like creatures scuttling away. The four turtles cheered their victory.

"Aww yeah, bros! High Three!" shouted the orange turtle, Mikey. The others responded to him by high-threeing each other.

"Great job, you guys," said the blue turtle, putting his two swords behind his back. "We should probably head back now. It's getting late and Master Splinter might be concerned about us."

"I agree," replied the purple turtle with a mischievous smirk. "I have to arrange some corrections on my processor."

The red turtle looked at the purple turtle with a mischievous smirk. "Oh? Do you mean the pictures of April in your data folder?"

The purple turtle flushed and formed a furious face, spun around to face the red turtle. "Raph!"

Raphael snickered, raising his hands in defense. "Alright, alright! Calm down, Don. I was just messin' with you."

"Guys! Remember that we're on the surface. Meaning, we're supposed to be quiet!" demanded the blue turtle.

Mikey planted his hand on his eldest brother's shoulder. "No worries, Leo. Nobody's gonna wake up and see us. You gotta learn how to chilllll, son."

Jocelyn scoffed to herself. '_A bit too late for that.'_

She ended the video. "Once this video goes on TV, the Stones will be stinkin' rich!" That sounded selfish. But what other choice does she have? Sure, she'd feel bad for the turtles of people finding them like they were their prey, but her aunt needed this, badly. If she didn't have a story for her, she'd end up losing her job; and being broke!

Jocelyn unintentionally banged her head on the wall, causing the bookshelf to fall down. All the books and her action figures fell, making loud crashes.

The four turtles looked up to her window. "What was that?" said Leo.

Raph cracked his knuckles, "Looks like we have company."

_'Shit. Shit. Shit.'_ Jocelyn's face went pale. She could almost hear them climbing up the fire escape. She moved deeper into the darkness of her room, hoping they won't see her. If they had night vision, she'd be screwed. Jocelyn braced herself as the clanging of the fire escape grew louder.

Suddenly, the door flew open, showing a tall figure who flicked on the lights. '_Aunt Darcy.'_ She wore a bathrobe and her auburn hair was up around Velcro rollers. Her emerald eyes were like green fire. She put on a furious face. "JOCELYN! I knew you were awake again! And you're on your phone?! Gimme it right now, young lady!"

Jocelyn stuttered, "A-Auntie… I-I was just-"

Darcy cut her off. "NOT a single word. I told you to sleep early! How are ya going to school with those bags under your eyes? And who wears footie pajamas at age 16? No guys will fall for you in that thing you're wearing! Childish! By the way, did you have a Valentine last year? No? I didn't think so! You probably won't have one this year either! Now, gimme the Goddamn phone!"

_Ouch._ She wasn't this harsh before. Probably 'cause she had been so exhausted today. Jocelyn would need to apologize in the morning. She didn't respond and handed over her phone. "But Auntie, hear me out! I would've slept early this time but I saw something strange outside and-!"

"Didn't I say not to speak? If you ever go to sleep late again, I'll throw your phone away! Am I clear?"

Watching Aunt Darcy walking out of the room, she felt Jocelyn grabbing her leg. "No! Please, Auntie! I'm deeply sorry for staying up again. Just don't throw away my phone. It's like my child! MY LIFE!" Jocelyn kept on pleading while her Aunt ignored her, heading towards the trashcan. "NOOOOO!"

The four turtles stood still, hiding on the fire escape and watched the odd girl getting dragged by the old woman. The turtles sweat-dropped except for one turtle, Mikey, who was chuckling at the scene.

"So," said Raph, completely evading the piercing noises coming from the window. "Anyone up for pizza back at home?"

"I'm in," responded the others, jumping down from the fire escape. They all climbed down to the sewers and closed it shut with the NYC manhole cover.

-End of Chapter 1

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><p><strong>~~~Author's Notes:<strong>

**So, that's the story so far, folks! Hopefully you'll look forward to the next chapter. Just so y'know, I am a really slow writer so I deeply apologize for that. Make sure to Comment! ^^ Here's a sneak-peek of the Next Up-coming chapter:**

_Jocelyn's eyes expanded, again staring at the blue eyes. She came back to her senses and realized she was face-to-face with one of the turtles; the turtle with the blue mask, hanging upside-down outside her window. Her face paled and mouth hung open._

_"AAAHHHHHH!"_

_~ xpetunia ~_

**Dragonblooded: Hi-lo. I'm the beta here, so if you do happen to spot any grammar errors, you can save Petunia the trouble and shoot me a PM telling me to get my act together. Also, I don't beta the author's notes, so that's all Petunia there. You can't blame me for that. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2: The Unexpected Welcoming

**~~~Authors Notes:**

**Yesterday, I went to the mall with my friend and she and I went to Spencers. I discovered something in there that I shouldn't have seen. So the people, who are younger than me, DO NOT go in Spencers unless you think you're old enough to. And I honestly don't know why they would sell those kinds of things. Just a little warning for you young peeps out there. ^_^ Anyways, thank you for the reviews! I'll try to get into more detail, maybe in a few chapters. :)**

**In the previous chapter...**

_**After discovering about the odd looking creatures, Jocelyn recorded a video of the turtles in her phone which was taken by her aunt afterwards. Jocelyn plans on getting her phone back, but what will happen to the turtles now?**_

**So, the second chapter is finally here! Read & Review!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Unexpected Welcoming<strong>

Leo's POV

_Tap. Tap. Tap._ The sounds of loud tapping echoed through the whole room. There was one tap per second and the sound continued for more than 20 minutes. The noise was cut off when…

"Geez, Leo. Will you stop doing that?" said Raph, appearing behind him to set up his breakfast. Raphael was, is, and always will be extremely grumpy, especially in the mornings before training. He went to the fridge to grab the milk for his cereal.

Realizing that he had kept tapping on the table, Leonardo immediately stopped. "Sorry, Raph. I was just thinking…"

Raphael halted in the middle of eating his breakfast and looked over at his older brother, wearing a concerned expression. He crossed his arms over his plastron. "About what?"

"Well, you remember last night when we fought the Kraang?" Leo looked at Raphael to see if he knew what he was talking about. Raphael seemed to understand and he nodded at Leo. "There was a loud crash inside the apartment building. And a girl was in there…"

His sentence was cut off by a gasp coming from his youngest brother. Michelangelo stood at the door like a statue. He looked like he had just seen the new volume of his favorite comic book. "No way, dude. Don't tell me you're…"

Leonardo blinked. He had no idea what his brother was talking about. Raphael didn't understand either. "I'm…?"

Mikey just sniffled, wiping a tear with his finger. "My brother is finally going through that phase."

Okay, now Leonardo was really confused. He still didn't understand. And Raphael laughing in the background wasn't helping anything. Leo just stared at his brother in confusion. "What are you trying to say?"

Mikey's grin grew bigger as he spelled out the word for his older brother. "You're in L-O-V-E, _in love_, man!"

Leo cringed in response. "Excuse me?"

"Don't deny it, my brotha. Its love at first sight, isn't it?"

Leonardo was stunned, while Raphael burst out laughing. Mikey had completely misunderstood what Leo was about to say. "What? It's not 'love-at-first-sight', Mikey and I'm not in love." Honestly, he would never know what went on inside his brother's tiny little brain. Maybe he was born without one.

Mikey looked surprised. "…You're not?"

Yep. It was official. Mikey was born brainless.

Raph scoffed. "Of course he's not. Leo's still obsessed with that Karai girl." Leo scowled at him.

Donatello walked into the kitchen to prepare his breakfast and overheard the conversation. "Really? I thought he was over her."

"Nope. I'm tellin' you, that girl is bad news."

"So Leo IS in love!" exclaimed Mikey. Raph shook his head and Donnie facepalmed.

A vein grew on Leo's forehead. "Guys! Now's not the time. I was talking about something important here."

Leo was getting irritated of his brothers talking about Karai like she was some kind of villain. ...okay, maybe she was a villain, but to Leo there was something special about Karai. She didn't seem like a bad person to him. He knew it was forbidden to have a crush on a Foot clan ninja, especially when she's the daughter of Shredder, but the way they both sneak out just to have those little playful battles on the roof seemed really…exciting. Karai was like an addicting drug to him. And Leo knew she thought the same way also.

Leonardo couldn't help it. He was a hopeless turtle.

Donatello settled down with his breakfast. "Sorry, Leo. What were you discussing?"

Leo kept his composure and decided not to argue with his brothers. For now. "I was thinking about what happened last night." he said. "Remember the girl in the building? She told the woman that she saw something strange outside."

"The girl looked freaked out about it, too," said Raphael, finishing his bowl of cereal.

Mikey's eyes widened. "No way. Dude, you don't think she saw us, right?"

Leo hoped not. If that girl revealed their identity to the city, or maybe even the whole world, thousands of people would be searching for them. And Master Splinter would not be pleased about it. "That's what I'm worried about. Donnie, could you find the coordinates of the place we went to?"

"I'm on it."

Raph threw his bowl in the kitchen sink and cracked his knuckles. "This is gonna be fun. Can't wait."

"Get ready for tonight, guys," exclaimed Leo. "'Cause we're heading out!"

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><p>Jocelyn's POV<p>

She couldn't sleep at all.

Jocelyn's head was filled with the odd creatures. She had so many questions in her mind. Who were they? Why had they come here? Why were they fighting those robots? Who even trained them to do that? She couldn't stop thinking about them ever since she'd spotted them. Jocelyn would've found more information about the odd creatures if her aunt hadn't come in. If only she still had her phone…but Aunt Darcy was probably still furious with her.

Jocelyn looked at the clock on the wall: 7:40am. Her first class didn't begin 'til 8:30, but she decided to get up early anyway. Jocelyn followed her regular morning routine, doing a couple of exercises, brushing her teeth and her messy hair, putting moisturizer on her face, and putting on her outfit. She wasn't the type of girl to put on make-up. Her natural appearance seemed the best. Jocelyn headed to the kitchen to eat her breakfast: oatmeal with coconut-flavored coffee. Her favorite.

Aunt Darcy and Peter weren't home. She knew her aunt was dropping off Peter at his school before going to work. So, it was only her and the dog.

Damn, and Jocelyn was going to apologize and convince her to give her phone back.

Jocelyn glanced at her empty bowl. "Looks like Aunt Darcy forgot to feed you, Bubba." The great white Pyrenees barked in response.

Once she filled up her food bowl, Jocelyn grabbed her skateboard and headed to school. The area where she lived seemed urban. The apartments all appeared to be expensive or ghetto. Where she lived with her aunt was pretty ghetto, but that never really bothered her. However, the stores near her area were paradise. Red Mango, Chipotle, Barnes & Nobles, and Bouchan Bakery! (She didn't know what the last one was but shed have to try it out someday.) But of course, Antonio's Pizza was always the best.

After riding her skateboard for a few minutes or so, she stopped when she saw her friend Hayley Johansson waiting at the school entrance. She wore a red plaid cardigan over a plain white T-shirt, black leather shorts and black leather boots. She had short honey brown hair with brown eyes, and a double Monroe piercing.

Hayley spotted Jocelyn and strolled her way towards her. "Hey, Jo! Damn, you look horrible!"

Jocelyn gave her a weak chuckle. "I…slept late again." She understood her instinctual refusal to talk about the creatures with Hayley. If something went wrong, Jocelyn might get her friend involved.

"Jesus, girl. Do you know what that will do to your face?" Hayley said as the pair strolled down the hallways.

"Pfft. I honestly don't care about my face."

Hayley raised an eyebrow, as if she was speaking in a silent language. "Seriously? Girl, you should feel proud having that face! You don't even use make-up and you still look gorgeous! Aside to the bags under your eyes."

Honestly, Jocelyn never liked her face. It reminded her of her sister, especially when she put on make-up. Both sisters did have some similarities, so putting on make-up was not happening. "What are you talking about? You're the gorgeous lookin' one here."

Hayley scoffed. "Yeah, _sure_. With a boy haircut and a Monroe piercings, I look pretty damn _hot_."

Jocelyn smiled and nudged her arm. "Girl, I'm tellin' the truth. If you don't like it, try a new look. Maybe grow your hair?"

"Nah, that ain't my style. Mainly because when it's too hot, my hair frizzes up. Rather have short hair."

"Amen to that."

"What? You want it short?"

Jocelyn shrugged. "Not sure. But since I sweat too much in kickboxing, my hair gets wet and it's bothersome."

"Keep the long hair. It suits you."

Jocelyn smiled. She was glad that somebody had interest in her looks. Others in that school would much rather talk to her about her sister's looks. That was just upsetting. She felt Hayley flinch. "Shit! She's coming!"

Continuing to walk down the hall, Jocelyn took a glance at the person passing by her. Francesca da Villeton. Jocelyn had known her since 7th grade. She had kept the long brunette hair and preppy outfit. (What's with the pink plaid skirt?) The only difference was she wore twice as much make-up than before. Jocelyn didn't know why the preppy girl kept glaring at her.

"What's her problem?"

Hayley shook her head. "No idea. Probably 'cause your boss is her grandfather…?"

"Oh…yeah. Shit, that _is_ really awkward."

"No kiddin'. You should quit."

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><p>'Each one had different colored masks. One had red, another had blue...'<p>

Jocelyn rapidly wrote information about the turtles in her journal, in case any reporters asked her any questions after she showed the world the video; after all, she was the only witness. She at least wanted to complete the paragraph before school ended. Jocelyn barely paid any attention to her classes. Her mind was full about of turtles. It was like she'd gone insane.

Hearing the school bell ring, she grabbed her belongings and went to work.

Jocelyn slammed the door open, quite the impressive feat. "Hey, Pepe!"

She spotted her manager watching his worker flatten dough. He glanced up, facing her. "Hello, Jocelyn. I hope you slept early this time. You have work to do."

She received a few notes on the customers' pizzas and their address. It was loads of notes; she assumed that there were easily more than 15 deliveries. Sometimes, she wished that Antonio's Pizza wasn't that popular.

Her first delivery was only 10 minutes away. She grabbed the pizza and headed to the address. Finding the building, she pressed the doorbell and waited 'til someone opened the door. "Delivery!"

Her appearance suggested she was Jocelyn's age. The girl had orange hair tied back into a low pony-tail. Her skin was pale with light freckles across her face and had bright blue eyes. She wore a yellow shirt and blue shorts over black long sleeves and tights. Jocelyn recognized her from school; her name was April O'Neil.

April had a curious expression on her face. "...You're from my school."

'Shit, she knows me,' she thought to herself. Jocelyn nervously laughed. "Ahaha...yeah..." It really was quite awkward, delivering pizza to someone from your school.

Jocelyn knew April O'Neil. She never talked to her before; only seeing the girl in her English and Gym classes. She was high in the honor roll list and one of the intelligent students in Roosevelt High School. Unlike the other smart kids, her appearance seemed less nerdy. She looked normal looking and quite appealing.

Jocelyn heard April call out someone that the pizza arrived. A boy with black hair suddenly appeared behind April and snatched the pizza box out of Jocelyn's hands. "Well, isn't he a desperate one." she thought.

April giggled at her comment. Oh, crud; Jocelyn didn't realize she'd said that aloud. She watched April as she took out her wallet. "Can't help it. Casey loves Antonio's pizza. So, how much?"

"$12.59"

April handed over the money, plus a tip. "Thanks. See you around school?"

Jocelyn looked surprised. "Ah? Um...sure." She watched April close the front door. Jocelyn wondered if she'd just made a new friend somehow. Putting that aside, she quickly grabbed her skateboard and headed off to deliver more pizzas. This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

><p>Closing time approached and her manager, Pepe offered her an envelope. "Great work, Jocelyn. I'm proud of you. Here's your monthly payment."<p>

"Ttuunks,"(thanks) she mumbled against the counter in fatigue.

"Perhaps I could replace your position as the delivery girl."

Her face paled. She jolted up and stared at her manager with a mix of disbelief and revulsion. She heard Pepe chuckle at her reaction. "I'm only jesting. How was the delivery?"

Letting out a sigh of relief, she slumped down her chair. "Exhausting."

"It's for your own good, Jocelyn. I need you to stay awake." Pepe went over the sink and washed the dirty utensils. "Have you met anyone from school?"

Jocelyn cringed at the thought. "Nope. Thank goodness. But there was one girl. She's in my class."

"Oh? Is a friend of yours?"

"Nah. Well... not yet. I'm not sure but she was...nice."

Pepe smiled. "See? Some people in school aren't as bad."

She knew Pepe was right. Jocelyn shouldn't judge too much. Of course, there were plenty of people in the school that seemed cool. She just hadn't met them yet. And April was one of them. Truthfully, Jocelyn was eager to meet April in school tomorrow.

"Heh. You're right, Pepe. But I'm still not being the delivery girl."

Pepe chuckled. "Alright, Jocelyn. You're free to go." He watched her get up from her seat and grab her items. "Have a great weekend."

Jocelyn beamed at him. "Thanks, Pepe. See you on Monday!" She closed the restaurant door and headed off to her apartment.

After a few minutes of arriving at her room, she spotted a note. Taking it off of the fridge, she examined the note.

_Jocelyn,_

_Will be coming home late tonight. Take care of Peter for me and put him to sleep at 9:00. For dinner, I put money on the kitchen table so you can get a delivery. And make sure to feed/walk Bubba._

_- Darcy_

_P.S. Don't forget to get to sleep early tonight._

Jocelyn sighed. Her Aunt wasn't gonna give her phone back, was she? She had to set-up a plan to convince her aunt to give it back somehow. Perhaps in the morning she could take a shot at it.

_'But how can I put it online if Auntie doesn't give me my phone?'_ She pondered on that. Could she make another video? _'Wait...that's it!'_ Jocelyn could take videos on her old iPod. It was perfect! Why hadn't she thought of this before? Hopefully, the turtles would appear again in the night. This time, she wouldn't make any mistakes.

She smiled when Peter giggled happily at the joke Patrick had said. "Peter! What do you want for dinner?"

Peter gave her a toothy smile. "Chicken wings!"

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

The sun lit up the city of New York. The amount of Yorkers began to increase as nighttime approached and the atmosphere cooled. Beneath the sewers, four mutant turtles investigated where the coordinates of a certain apartment building was located. Donatello grasped his GPS while Leo tailed behind him. Mikey followed Raph, groaning. "How much longer?"

Annoyed by his groaning, Raph looked back at his younger brother. "Will you shut it? You've been whining ever since we've started searching the damn place."

Mikey sensed his limbs falling asleep. "Ugh. I can't go any further, dudes. My legs are gonna collapse and the stench is growing stronger!" He covers his face with both hands, attempting to hold his breath. "I... can't...breathe..."

Donnie rolled his eyes at his brother's dramatic action. "Try to hold it longer, Mikey. We'll be there approximately 10 to 20 minutes."

"Why are we going through the sewers anyways?" asked Raph, ignoring the grunting noises coming from behind him.

"Well Raph, there's the fact that it's summertime, so sunset doesn't arrive 'til 8:30pm."

That caught Mikey's attention, forgetting that the place stunk and his legs ached. "Whoa, that's so weird, dude."

Donnie chuckled. "Hehe. Yeah, you could say that. And you know what else?"

"What? What?"

"Sunrise doesn't appear 'til it's around 5:20am." Donnie watched Mikey's mouth agape. Donnie chuckled a little. He enjoyed showing off his intelligence to his brothers. Especially Mikey.

"Whoaaaa. That's so awesome!" Mikey exclaimed. "Do you, like, visit April around that time?"

Donatello's face flushed at the idea. "No! Where'd you even get that idea from?!"

"What idea?"

Leo stopped walking. "_Guys_! Focus! Donnie, is there any shortcuts?"

Donnie coughed, keeping his composure. He looked at his GPS. "Apparently, there's only a one-way trail to the location."

"Alright, before we continue, you guys remember the plan, right?"

All his brothers nodded in response. Leo set eyes on Mikey. "Mikey, are you sure?"

"Of course, man." said Mikey, smirking at his brother.

Leo crossed his arms over his plastron. He doubted his brother knew what the plan was, no matter how many times he repeated it. "Alright. Tell me what it is."

"No problem, me brotha. We pretend to search for something, getting the girl's attention while one of us sneaks in her room and BAM! Girly is tied up captured and we ask questions about the video."

Leo thought wrong. He actually did remember the plan. Even his brothers looked amazed. "Uh... that's right, Mikey."

Mikey just smirked. "And you guys all thought I was stupid."

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

After feeding and walking Bubba, she put her baby cousin to sleep by humming a lullaby. Although Jocelyn was a terrible singer, Peter didn't mind. He lost consciousness after a minute or two. After tucking him in bed and kissing his forehead, she headed to her bedroom.

Jocelyn quickly changed into a black long sleeved jumpsuit, putting on black gloves and boots. She tucked her long waves of hair inside the 3 holed-mask. She took a long glance in the mirror; she looked like a movie cat burglar. 'It'll have to do' she told herself. The turtles probably wouldn't see her in the darkness while wearing this outfit.

Grabbing the iPod and switching the lights off, she sat in front of her window, taking a peek into the alleyway. Not a turtle in sight. She slouched down on her beanie chair and looked at her watch. _'9:18.'_ She doubted they'd appear around this time since last time they came around 12 o'clock.

Then, she heard the same crash from outside.

Jocelyn peered outside the window. And there they were. _'It's them!'_ She started to play the video and recorded the turtles. She was in disbelief that they came again. But why? She observed the turtles; they appeared to be looking for something.

"So...what are we looking for again?" asked Mikey.

Donnie slapped his head in exasperation. "We're looking for the mutagen, Mikey." Mikey glanced at his brother, looking confused. Donnie sighed. "The Ooze?"

A light bulb popped up from Mikey's head. "Oh! Right!" Mikey winked at Donnie. "_WE ARE HERE FOR THE OOZE!_" He made his sentence loud and clear so the girl above could hear f and gave Donnie a thumbs-up. His brother simply slapped his head again; worried that Mikey might blow their cover.

Jocelyn heard Mikey's sentence and fell for the lie. _'So that's why they came back.'_ Continuing to record the turtles while they searched the alleyway, she noticed one turtle was missing.

_'Did one of them not come today?'_ she thought to herself. No, she was positive that four turtles came out from the sewer. Jocelyn peeked out of the window, searching for the missing reptile. There was no sign of where the other turtle went to. Then, her vision turned blue.

Jocelyn gazed into the two wide blue orbs like the color of the ocean. She sensed its warm breath coming from its nose. She felt the mask almost brushing against hers. The sensation was overwhelming, so warm. And so close. She remained in that spot, desiring to stroke its silky green skin.

Wait a minute. Green?

Jocelyn's eyes expanded, again staring at the blue eyes. She came back to her senses and realized she was face-to-face with one of the turtles; the turtle with the blue mask, hanging upside-down outside her window. Her face paled and mouth hung open.

"AAAHHHHHH!" she shrieked, unintentionally head-butting the turtle. The poor turtle tumbled down the fire escape, massaging the bruise. Jocelyn scuttled back, horrified by how close it was. The creature was even bigger close-up.

Leo stepped inside the girl's room. "Hold on. I'm not going to hurt you."

He took a few steps forward, which made Jocelyn shiver in fear. _'It even talks!'_ Well, she knew that the last time, but still! She grabbed the nearest item and threw it at the creature. Multiple of paper balls, pens, her books, a chair, and a soccer ball flew at the direction of the reptile. "NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He managed to dodge all the objects and suddenly appeared behind her back. After a couple of screams and crashes, Leo finally tied up the girl and carried her down to the alleyway. Leo dropped her on the ground, where she landed on her butt.

She felt one of the turtles pull off her mask, making her hair all frizzy. All four creatures stared down at the human girl. Yeah, they seem pretty huge close-up. _'Oh. My. God.'_ she felt her face drain in color.

The orange masked turtle gazed at the girl with a smile. "Woah, she's pretty!"

Her eyes broadened after gathering that comment into her brain. _'A-Are they going to…'_ Jocelyn shrieked again.

"PLEASE DON'T RAPE ME!"

The turtles jumped, alarmed by her sudden scream. Her shout could've easily attracted nearby residents. Raphael covered her mouth and pulled out one of sai.

He raised his sai closer to the girl's face. "If you don't be quiet, I swear I'll kill you."

Frightened, she attempted to calm down while Raphael pulled his weapon away. The girl heavily panted and her heart started to race. Jocelyn had never been this scared.

"W-What do you want?"

The purple masked turtle walked towards the human girl, making sure he kept his distance from her. He knew how frightened she was. "We mean no harm. Just give us the cinematography in your mechanical device."

The girl just blinked.

Raph rolled his eyes at his brother. "Speak dumb, Don."

Jocelyn tilted her head to the side. "…You mean the video in my iPod?"

Raphael raised his eyebrow ridge at the girl. Donatello glowered back at Raphael. "See? She understood what I was saying!"

Ignoring his younger brothers, Leo nodded his head. "Yes, miss. Your iPod."

"W-Why?"

Before he even spoke to the girl, Leo was cut off by Mikey. "Well you see, since the Ooze pretty much mutated us people will think we're freaks so we stay in the sewers! And we were trained by our Master, Splinter, who's a giant rat and we fight the Kraang droids and the Foot clan and-!"

"Mikey! Is telling her all that really necessary?" exclaimed Donnie, clapping a hand over his brother's open mouth. Mikey mumbled something that he couldn't understand.

Jocelyn's brain couldn't function properly after hearing Mikey's explanation. All she could recall was 'a giant rat' and 'Kraang droids'. Jocelyn assumed that the so-called 'Kraang droids' were those robots from last night. And thinking about a giant rat made her shudder. She did not want to see that in real life.

Raph glanced down at the girl. "Look, girlie. The point is we keep ourselves hidden. So hand over the damn iPod."

Jocelyn bobbed her head up and down, kicking her iPod towards the turtles. They all looked stunned. The turtles were expecting a little disagreement from her or something. But the girl obeyed and just handed her electronic device to them.

Raph raised his eyebrow ridge. "Uh…thanks?" He threw the iPod over to Donnie and made him delete the video.

Leo planted his hand on Raph's shoulder. "See, Raph? All you have to do is kindly ask. Violence is never the answer." Raph only growled at him in response.

"It's fine. I have another video in my phone." Jocelyn said.

Leo glanced back at the girl. "…And where is it, exactly?" He tried to calm down Raph, who wanted very badly to strangle her.

"Hehehe, well… my aunt has it…" whispered the girl, but it was clear enough that all turtles heard her. One of the turtles was about to question her why but the girl cut them off. "Don't ask. Long story."

Jocelyn couldn't believe she was communicating with the creatures. Had she really gone insane? Was this a dream? Oh, she hoped it was. But their presence felt real enough and she very much doubted that it was.

Leo sighed in frustration.

His brothers really weren't getting anywhere. All they had to accomplish was to delete the video but unexpectedly, the girl recorded TWO videos of them. Leonardo was feeling a bit anxious, worried about what would happen if Master Splinter found out about this. His Sensei would not be pleased about it. Leo needed to intimidate the girl a little to conclude their situation before the master knows.

"I'd hate to do this…"

Leonardo drew out one of his katana, pointing to the human girl. He watched the girl as she shivered in fear. His brothers flabbergasted.

"You've got until tomorrow night to give us the video. We know where you live, so we will find you."

He heard the girl gulped and rapidly nod her head. She was terrified, he knew that. Leo felt bad for frightening the poor girl, but it was for the sake of keeping their identity secret. He felt pressure on his shoulder and glanced back at his brother.

Raph smirked mischievously. "Geez, Leo. Better calm down. Violence is never the answer, y'know." His brother ignored him. He put his sword in its case and walked back into the sewer hole.

Raphael turned back at the girl. "Oh yeah, and this conversation never happened. Got it, girlie?" He watched the girl nod in response and followed his brother. Donnie and Mikey untied the girl's wrists and ankles.

Once the rope was loose, Jocelyn rubbed her wrists, seeing a few red marks. The purple masked turtle spoke. "I'm sorry, miss. Usually, they're not like this. Well… mostly speaking about Leo."

Donatello observed the girl gradually nodding. Certainly she was still scared of the four giant turtles unexpectedly giving her a pleasant welcoming. Mikey patted the girl's back lightly in comfort, causing the girl to don an expression of shock and horror.

"No worries, girl! You don't have to be afraid! My brothers are cool once you get to know them!"

Unlike the other two turtles who just left, Donatello and Mikey seemed rather… kind to the human girl. Aside from being anxious around the giant reptiles, Jocelyn believed that maybe they weren't so bad.

"I won't tell."

Mikey looked confused. "Huh?"

"I won't tell anything about you guys. I'll try to get my phone by tomorrow."

Jocelyn only said that so she wouldn't be harmed by them. She received a huge grin from the smallest turtle, Mikey. Even Donatello gave her a gentle smile. "Thanks."

Jocelyn nodded and the two turtles departed. She sat on the ground and watched them enter the sewers. Once they disappeared, Jocelyn sighed in relief.

_'Thank goodness they're gone.'_ She thought to herself. However, Jocelyn had two problems. One: Jocelyn needed her phone from Aunt Darcy before tomorrow night before the turtles do something awful. Two: If Jocelyn deleted the video, she couldn't give a story to her aunt. But there was no other choice. To not get her family involved with the situation, she had to perform a major sacrifice.

What the hell happened to her normal life?

Jocelyn inwardly cried and banged her head on the ground. _'Forgive me, the Almighty Father in Heaven! I have done nothing wrong!'_ After desperately praying and begging God to not let her die tomorrow, she began to climb up the fire escape heading inside her apartment.

But little did she know that a petite silhouette figure stood in the window, witnessing Jocelyn chatting with giant turtles.

* * *

><p><strong>~~~AN:**

**DUN. DUN. DUNNN. (so dramatic) What will happen next? And whose figure was in that window? Here's a sneak-peek of the next up-coming chapter:**

"_Well I ain't buying it. I don't trust her one bit."_

"_Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"_

"_Are you sure it will work, Leo?"_

"_I saw them last night!"_

_~ xpetunia ~_


	3. Chapter 3: Back to Reality well,almost

**Chapter 3: Back to Reality…well, almost**

**~~~~Author's Notes: DEEPLY APOLOGIZE FOR THE LATENESS. Since it's my first year as a freshman in college, school work and other reasons were in the way of continuing this story. So, no. I'm not dead. Just REALLY busy.**

**In the previous chapter...**

_**Leonardo noticed something suspicious back in the apartment building last night, so the turtles decided to check it out. Jocelyn meets April while delivering pizza. She is still convincing her aunt to get her phone back, until she came with a plan to make another video from her iPod nano. Nighttime came and Jocelyn eventually meets the turtles face to face. Leonardo threatens her to get the video back from her aunt. Leonardo did not threaten her to take her life, however Jocelyn took it the wrong way... But how is she going to get her phone back now? And who was the person that saw Jocelyn chatting with the turtles?**_

**So enjoy this chapter! :)**

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

"Jocelyn! Breakfast's ready!"

Hearing her aunt from a distance, the 16 year-old girl rose up from her bed and wiped dry drool off her chin. Jocelyn climbed down the ladder and headed to the bathroom. It was the weekend after all. She could wake up or sleep whenever she wanted to.

After doing her regular morning routine, she walked out of her bedroom to eat breakfast. Jocelyn yawned before sitting at the dining table next to her baby cousin. Her aunt came towards the table and set down Jocelyn's plate. The food was great, as always: four sausages with scrambled eggs and buttery toast on the side, including a glass of orange juice. The simplest breakfast foods are always the best. Jocelyn needed a full meal anyway for kickboxing class this afternoon.

Aunt Darcy watched her niece munching down her scrambled eggs.

"Did you get to sleep early last night?"

Jocelyn lifted up her head, still chewing on her food. "Oh yeah! I did. Mm! Tasty."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, hon'. And remember to go to your kickboxing class, alright?"

"Mm. I know I know." Jocelyn gobbled down all the four sausages in one bite.

Aunt Darcy sighed. Her niece always ate like a pig. She remembered clearly when Jocelyn's parents dropped her off at Darcy's place on her 5th birthday to attend their oldest daughter's play. She doubted Jocelyn remembered that time because she was at a young age. Darcy baked a birthday cake and when Jocelyn tasted it, the 5 year old wolfed down half the cake and rubbed the frosting all over her face. Darcy got furious when she had to clean the mess up. Although, Aunt Darcy was pleased that she enjoyed her cake. It felt like Darcy finally had a child in her life.

Peter giggled. "You look like a hobo, sis."

His cousin raised an eyebrow at him. "What? How so?"

Aunt Darcy sighed. "Hon'. Your hair looks like there was a war in there."

Jocelyn looked up at her hair. Her waves were completely disordered and locks of hair were sticking upwards. Usually her hair fussed whenever she woke up in the morning. She didn't felt like brushing it at that moment.

Peter laughed. "And you eat messy! And there's food on your face! And you dress like a hobo too!"

Jocelyn responded with a frown. She knew how horrible she looked in the mornings. But it didn't matter. Jocelyn didn't bother to look at the mirror after what happened last night.

Aunt Darcy glanced at her adopted son, drawing something on a piece of paper. "What are you drawing, sweetie?"

"Turtles!" Peter exclaimed. "I saw them last night!"

Jocelyn almost choked on her food after hearing Peter's statement. Aunt Darcy glanced back at her niece and shook her head. "I told you not to speak with your mouth full."

She ignored her aunt. _'He SAW them?! No, there's no way he did.'_ Jocelyn looked at her baby cousin's drawing. There were four turtles colored in crayon holding their own weapons.

_'Shit, he did.'_

Aunt Darcy seemed interested. "Oh? And this is what they look like?"

Peter nodded. "Yup! But I dunno what to name them..." Peter saw his cousin looking at his art piece. Her face cringed a little.

"They look weird."

Peter's expression turned into confusion. The kids thought for sure that his cousin saw them also. Not just saw them but also communicated with them. "But you-"

"YEAH! I think they look like _mutants_!" she interrupted, knowing what he was about to say. Peter almost told her mother about the turtles, and Jocelyn made sure not to tell anyone about them. Especially from Aunt Darcy.

Aunt Darcy wasn't aware of Jocelyn's loud statement. Darcy tries to help her son name the drawing of the creatures and looks at their weapons. "They could know martial arts. Are they ninjas?"

A light bulb popped out from Peter's head. He got it! The perfect name for the turtles!

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"

Jocelyn seemed surprised. He actually named the weird looking creatures. In fact, it wasn't a terrible name for them. She watched her baby cousin repeatedly shouts out the name of the turtles while dancing around his chair.

Aunt Darcy chuckles at the sight. "You and your imaginations." She kissed her son's forehead and headed for the door. "I'll be late again. When you get back from practice, make sure to check on Peter, okay Jocelyn?"

Jocelyn scoffed in response. "Don't worry, Auntie. I did it for years. And…Auntie?"

"Yes?"

"Erm…when do I get my phone back?"

Aunt Darcy frowned. "When you learn how to get to sleep early."

Of course. She's not going to make things easier, isn't she? Jocelyn needed the phone before _they_ do something terrible to her…

Once Aunt Darcy closed the front door, Peter finished his plate and glanced at his cousin. "Why didn't you tell Momma?"

"Huh?"

"You saw them too, sis. The turtles."

He heard her sigh. Jocelyn knew he was going to ask her why she didn't reveal them to Aunt Darcy. "Look, Peter. Your mother can't know this."

"Why?"

Jocelyn hesitated to answer. She didn't want to tell him the situation she was in. "Well uhm… since your mother is a reporter, if she saw them, it's 'bye-bye' to the turtles."

Peter gasped. "R-Really?"

"_Yes_! So you have to be silent about this, okay?"

Peter quite understood. He didn't want the turtles to disappear forever. He had so many things to ask them! "Okay… but why were they there with you?"

"Uhm… well…"

"Did they say anything about your snoring?"

Okay, that was unexpected. Jocelyn's eyes enlarged as she jumped from her chair. "I snore?!"

She watched Peter nodding his head. "You've been snoring for years, sis. And it was _really_ loud this time."

Jocelyn groaned in aggravation. Her sleeping habits were completely horrendous: moving wildly, snoring, and drooling.

"Ugh. I can't believe this…I _snore_ now?!"

"Louder than a lion."

Jocelyn watched her baby cousin roaring and playfully scratching at her arm. Peter was such an adorable kid when he acted goofy. She chuckled lightly and ruffled his brown hair.

"Just don't tell Auntie about the turtles. I'll be back at 5 and make sure you lock the door while I'm gone, okay?"

Peter watched Jocelyn heading for the front door and nodded. "Okay! Bye-bye, sis!"

Before she gave him a grin, she shut the door closed.

* * *

><p>Donnie looked over at his brother Leo, who was leaning his carapace on the kitchen table in deep thought. "Are you sure it will work, Leo?"<p>

Leo hesitated to answer. "It has to."

All four turtles were in the kitchen area, finished with their breakfast and placing the empty bowls in the sink. Leo scheduled a meeting in the kitchen, deliberating if the human girl was truly reliable. After all, they did threaten the girl… well, _Leo _did to get the video. Perhaps the girl could actually keep their identities hidden. However, one of the remaining turtles disagreed that the girl was trustworthy. Of course.

"What if it doesn't?" said Raph, crossing his arms over his plastron.

"No. It will work."

"Yeah! She looked nice and friendly!" exclaimed Mikey.

Mikey heard his brother Raph click his tongue. "That doesn't make her trustworthy."

Donnie thought that Raph had a point. The appearance didn't clarify that the young female was dependable. But looking back at what the girl had said last night, Donnie began to have second thoughts. "She looked more frightened than friendly. But even though Raph has a point, surprisingly, Mikey's right."

His brothers looked at Donnie in astonishment mixed with revulsion. Including Mikey. Donnie decided to ignore their reactions and continued, "What she said, about bringing back the video from her aunt, I assume we can trust her. How many other options do we have?"

Raphael frowned. "Well I ain't buying it. I don't trust her one bit. Remember the last time we almost got our asses kicked 'cause some dude taped us?"

None of the turtles could ever forget that time. Last time, it was completely chaos. Unlike the young female, the old man was selfish and grumpy, not to mention stupid. However in the end, the man was mutated to a giant spider and the turtles were saved by Raphael, once he got rid of his temper. Well, almost. And now, they're in the same situation, _again_.

"You mean Spider Bytez?" asked Mikey.

"Yeah, Spider Bytez. And what if the chick's like him?"

Leo glanced at his brother. "We can't be sure about that. That's why we're all going back there."

Raphael huffed in annoyance. Was he really the only one who didn't trust this girl? What if the girl really did reveal them to the world? Oh, his brothers were so going to regret it if he was right all along. Might as well mutate the chick too before she showed the video to the world.

Okay, so maybe mutating her wasn't a great solution to the problem.

But what other choices does he have? Go along with his brothers and trusting the lying, greedy damsel? No way was that happening. Raphael was entirely against this.

Leonardo continuously spoke to his brothers. "And make sure Splinter doesn't know about this."

They all nodded in agreement, thinking about the last time they got caught by the grumpy old man Vic. Master Splinter had almost become furious. And now that they got caught again, he might not ever send his sons to the surface.

"Know about what, my sons?"

The four turtles flinched at the voice. They all faced their father, Master Splinter, standing at the doorway and staring at his four children.

"Sensei!" they all said in unison.

"What is going on here?"

"Nothing!" said Leo. "Nothing is going on. Right guys?" Leo glanced back at his brothers and watched them nod their heads.

Donnie chuckled anxiously. "Yeah. Heh. Nothing at all."

Splinter stared suspiciously at his sons while tapping a finger on his cane. He didn't believe them. They were hiding something from him, most certainly. But Splinter decided to push it aside. He'd know what that secret was someday, just not today. He went towards the stove to make his tea.

"Alright then. Carry on, my sons."

Silence filled the room before Mikey spoke up. "Ehehe… who's up for _Super Robo Mega Force Five_?"

* * *

><p>The sun reflected on a tall glass skyscraper, reading Local News 5 on top of the building. Darcy Stone had just arrived at her office a few minutes ago. She was only 10 minutes late. Thankfully her manager was in L.A. with his family.<p>

The woman sighed in exhaustion, slamming the files of papers on her desk before slouching down in her seat. Being a reporter was stressful. She still felt the pain in her shoulders from last night working with her crew. Darcy occasionally questioned why she had ever wanted to become a reporter. All she wanted some days was to take a long relaxing nap with her family.

Speaking of her family, Jocelyn seemed a bit desperate about having her phone back. Sure, Darcy did take her phone a couple of times before. It wasn't like Darcy was going to look at her private stuff. She didn't even want to know.

Perhaps Aunt Darcy was too harsh on her niece. She decided to give back her phone tomorrow.

Darcy Stone heard a knock on her door. The door revealed a young man about 5'6" with short black hair, glasses, and a gray suit. It was Darcy's assistant, Jeffery. Jeffery walked into her office with a cup of coffee and placed it on her desk.

The man looked over at the reporter. "Ms. Stone."

Darcy met his brown eyes. "Anything new, Jeff?"

Jeffery pushed up his glasses. "No, apparently not. However, I found out something interesting on Channel 6 this morning."

The reporter sighed in frustration. "And that is?"

Jeffery held up a clipboard, reading the paper. "According to the news, Miss Lucy had a live interview of Christopher Hollands."

Darcy jumped from her chair. "_The_ Christopher Hollands?"

"It seems like it, yes."

Darcy was having a headache. She despised how Channel 6 recently was at the top of the game. Channel 6 was quickly becoming the most popular news channel and received millions more views than Local News 5. Both companies loathed each other. And Darcy couldn't let Channel 6 have their victory.

She clicked her tongue and grabbed her coat from the hanger. "Then we need a report pronto! Get the rest of the crew. We're going out now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Jeffery stated, running out the door.

If they didn't get anything today, Darcy hoped that her niece discovered something motivating for her.

* * *

><p>The Ultimate Gym was one of the oldest and the first authentic Muay Thai Gym in New York City. The building was enormous, and had been in business for over a decade. About a hundred of people practiced kickboxing there. It was open 7 days a week. Jocelyn only had time to attend Saturday through Monday.<p>

Beads of sweat ran from her forehead to her back. She panted as she threw her fist at the pads. Gasping for air, she suddenly paused. Her instructor, Kris Taksin, observed his student. "C'mon, miss Jocelyn. Just a few more hits."

The young girl made a fighting stance and finished after taking a couple of breaths. Jocelyn had been punching and kicking about a half an hour. Kris, with his thick Thai accent, could be somewhat severe when it came to practice.

"Left jab! Right cross! Back roundhouse!" demanded Kris, holding up the pads again.

Jocelyn followed her instructions and repetitively jabbed and kicked. Her speed intensified after every strike on the pads. She could feel the muscles in her arms and leg stretching, reaching for the targets. Every hit on the pad was powerful and deep, making a loud sound echoing throughout the gym room.

After a few more minutes of punching and kicking the pads, Jocelyn collapsed and sat on the mat, panting.

Kris offered her a towel. "You've improved, Miss Jocelyn. Work on your stamina more."

Jocelyn had a bad problem with her stamina. It was difficult to improve, even though she practiced boxing from when she was 8 years old. Not only was her stamina problematic, but her concentration was lacking. Jocelyn couldn't help but remember the time she met the turtles.

She was in deep trouble. She couldn't get her phone back from her aunt. Jocelyn inwardly sighed. She'd have to tell them the truth. Hopefully the damn turtle won't point its sword at her again.

Jocelyn took the towel and dabbed the sweat from her face. "Sorry, Kris. I'll try harder next time."

"There won't be a next time." Kris stated. "Tomorrow will be your first competition for the Golden Glove. Your match will be with Charlotte Johnson."

Jocelyn remembered her from years ago. Charlotte was a pretty powerful opponent. She was pretty tall for her age, approximately 6 feet, and had big guns. Charlotte started boxing when she was 7 and won the Silver Glove four times. Jocelyn, had won it twice. She'd be a toughie, that's for sure. Jocelyn needed to put aside the distractions until the match was over.

Jocelyn cringed. "Damn, Charlotte? Isn't she like a beast?"

"She sure is. So be prepared and make sure you don't become a smoothie after the match."

Jocelyn doubted that she'd win the match against that beast. Anxiety filled her head, mostly fears about how Charlotte would smash her like a potato. She decided to practice more at the apartment, after doing a couple of warm-up exercises: torso twists, toe touch kicks, and jumping jacks.

She said her farewells to her and headed home. Once she opened the door to the apartment, Jocelyn heard a sudden holler.

"Hiyahhh!"

Her baby cousin ran towards her and stabbed her with forks. Bubba followed him and greeted Jocelyn home.

"Ow! Ow! Hey, Peter! That really hurts, you know that?"

He giggles. "Sorry, sis."

Jocelyn rubbed her punctured thighs and ruffled the dog's fur. She glanced down at her baby cousin and her eyes widened.

"…What on _earth_ are you wearing?"

Jocelyn was in disbelief. Peter was covered in paper bags head-to-toe, colored in green crayon. His belly was covered in yellow colored paper bags, making it look like a plastron, while his back was shaped into a giant brown carapace of a shell. Peter's head was covered in a green paper bag. He had a drawn red mask across the two holes for his eyes. He looked simply ridiculous.

"I'm one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles! I'm the red one!"

Jocelyn's eye twitched when he reminded her of the red turtle. The red turtle was the most terrifying turtle out of all of them. He had literally tried to _kill _her! She reminded herself to keep her distance from that one the next time the turtles approached her.

Pushing the horrible imaginations away, Jocelyn smiled when she saw her baby cousin waving the two forks in joy. He seemed proud of his hard effort making the absurd outfit.

She chuckled. "Cool costume, kiddo. Just make sure you put the forks back. Okay?"

Peter pouted in annoyance. "Okaaay."

"And don't stab yourself! Or Bubba!"

"_Okaaay_!"

Jocelyn was about to go inside her bedroom when the home phone rang suddenly. She rapidly picked up the call.

"Hello?"

[Hey, girl!]

Jocelyn recognized the voice from the other line. She smiled, bringing the phone to her bedroom and dropping her stuff on the floor.

"Hey, Hayley! Why'd you call?"

[Well you weren't picking up your cellphone.]

"Oh…right. Sorry about that. I forgot to tell you that my aunt took it again…"

[Bummer. Anyways, I called 'cause I was wondering if you're coming to my 17th birthday party tomorrow night. Y'know, before school ends.]

"Party?"

Jocelyn seemed surprised. Her birthday was coming already? Either the days went by too quickly or she just had bad memory. Jocelyn felt guilt inside her gut for not remembering her best friend's birthday.

[Yah! Some cool peeps will be there. It'll be at my place.]

"Well… I don't know. I might be busy tomorrow."

Her friend groaned in annoyance. [Aww. C'mon, girl! You're always so busy! Learn how to relax and take a break! I can bring in some alcohol if you'd like~?]

Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "You know we can't drink. We're still young."

[I have my ways to get 'em. And y'know what they say, _'Live while we're young!'_ and by _'living'_, I mean by _'drinking'_! So, you up for it?]

Jocelyn scoffed. "Not much of a drinker."

[Ugh. C'mon! Please? Can you come for me?]

"I would, but-"

[I could hook you up with somebody special~?]

Jocelyn blushed at the thought. She craved a boyfriend this year. Hayley had her ways of making friends with a lot of guys. Guys that were cute, mature, handsome, and even smoking _hot_. Jocelyn hesitated to answer. She didn't know if she had the time for her party when the competition for the Golden Gloves was tomorrow.

"I'll think about it."

She heard her friend snickering on the other line. [Nice! See you tomorrow!]

[click]

Before hanging up, she grabbed her hand wraps and wrapped it around her fist, opening a door to the rooftop. Jocelyn wanted to practice kickboxing for the competition before the turtles arrived. Hopefully, they'd understand why she didn't receive her phone from her aunt.

She doubted it.

* * *

><p>Nighttime drew near and the moon and neon stars of NYC lit up the dark sky. The atmosphere was getting a bit chilly and more people began to roam around the city. But little did they know four giant turtles were hidden in a dark alleyway.<p>

The four were hanging around in the pathway, expecting the human girl to come. Michelangelo secretly stole Donatello's Bo staff while he was fixing his mutagen scanner and poked Donnie's cheek with it in boredom. Giving his little brother an infuriated look, Donatello grasped his Bo staff back and thumped Mikey's head with it. Leonardo warned them to be silent when Mikey wailed in pain.

After a few minutes of fooling around, they waited for half an hour and no human girl was yet to be seen. This caused Raphael to complain.

"We should've mutated the girl when we had the chance."

Leo glared at him. "And what good would that do, Raph?"

"Well it's better than just waiting around like a bunch of idiots. We have to take action, now!"

"So mutating her will solve this?" Leo sighed in aggravation. Honestly, his brother needed to cool down his temper and rethink a little bit. "She has a family, Raphael. If she gets mutated, what if her family sees her? They'll report it to the police and almost everyone will get involved. It's not a good idea."

Raph frowned. "But you don't trust the girl either, Leo. If we just sit around doing nothing, she could actually send the video. Huh, Leo? What are we going to do if that happens?"

Although Raphael did have a temper, he had a good point too. Leo was unsure if the girl was really worth trusting. And while remaining in that spot wouldn't solve their situation, but that didn't mean mutating the poor girl was a better idea.

"Like I said before, we can't be sure about that. That's why we're here."

Mikey appeared before them and glanced at Raphael. "Still not a good idea, bro."

Raphael huffed in response and grumbled something beneath his breath. His three brothers knew what he said.

Another couple of minutes passed and hearing whines from Mikey, Donatello decided to look inside her bedroom from her window.

"Guysss? Where is sheee?" asked Mikey before whining again.

Leo looked at Donatello on the fire escape above. "Is she there?"

Donnie sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. It's completely dark in there."

"Great. That's just great," responded Raph. "You see? This is why we shouldn't trust anybody!"

"Raph, calm down. She's probably somewhere else in the building."

Raphael scoffed at Donnie. "Yeah. Probably somewhere hiding from getting her neck crushed! 'Cause I swear I will do it!"

Leo put his hand up in halt. "Hold on, Raph. You hear that?"

The noises came from above. It almost sounded like… punches against something. Whatever it was, someone was up there. And all four turtles knew who it is.

Climbing and leaping onto the fire escape, they reached to the rooftop and spotted the girl. Her strawberry blonde hair was tied to the side in a French braid. She wore a neon yellow sports bra with black tights. Her fist punched the black punching bag, chained up on the steel pole. She performed a couple of jabs, back-punches, and hook-kicks.

The girl… wasn't that bad.

Suddenly, she paused and dabbed the towel on her skin, wiping the beats of sweat forming on her forehead. Exhausted of practicing her punches and kicks, Jocelyn wondered how she'd overcome the battle between her and Charlotte Johnson.

"Look, guys! It is her!" exclaimed Mikey leaping over the edge of the building.

Jocelyn's eyes widened after hearing its voice again . She jolted in shock. Her head rapidly spun around trying sight the turtles but accidentally hit the steel pole holding up the punching bag. Ouch. The turtles stared at her rolling on the ground, wincing and groaning in pain, rubbing the bruise on her forehead.

Mikey approached the girl. "Are you alright, girl? Did we surprise you?"

Jocelyn got up from the ground, continuing rubbing her bruise. "Yeah, you did. Since you guys appeared out of nowhere…"

"Yeah! 'Cause we're Ninjas!"

Guessing from the panting, she must have been on the roof for a while.

Leo spoke up. "Miss, how long were you up here?"

Jocelyn shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really keep track of my time." She looked up at the night sky. The moon lit up the firmament while the atmosphere was cooling down. "What time is it anyways?"

Donnie glanced above the sky. "Well according to the atmosphere, temperature and the amount of people sauntering around the city, it should be approximately 10:15 pm."

Jocelyn looked stunned and checked her watch. It was 10:17. Close enough but damn, the turtle could tell time by glancing at the sky!

"Whoa. Damn! You're pretty cool, knowing that kind of stuff!" exclaimed Jocelyn, impressed by the turtle.

Raphael frowned at the girl. "Wait, why did ask what time it was when you had a watch the whole time?"

The girl hesitantly chuckled nervously in response.

Was this girl retarded?

Donnie chuckled nervously. "I'm flattered, but-"

Donatello was suddenly cut off by his older brother, Leo. "Miss, we've been waiting for you down in that alleyway for over an hour."

"What? Really?" Jocelyn's face flushed in humiliation. They were waiting there for an hour? It wasn't her fault. How could she have known if they hadn't told her to meet in the exact same spot? "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were waiting down there."

She heard the red turtle sigh in frustration. "Okay, cut the crap. Where's the video?"

Jocelyn fidgeted. "Well…um… I don't have it yet."

Aggravation and fury rose beneath him. Raphael knew he couldn't trust the girl. She was just like the greedy old man.

"That's it!" Raph cracked his neck and knuckles. "I knew you were a liar!"

Jocelyn braced herself when Raphael came close to her. Before Raph could beat her up, his brothers quickly held him down.

"Raph! Calm down. If you're not going to cooperate, I'll send you back. Understood?" Leonardo warned, keeping a stern face. His brother's response was just a huff of annoyance. Leo watched Mikey and Donnie gradually let go of Raph, cautiously making sure he wouldn't go on a rampage.

Facing back at the young girl, he nervously chuckled. "Sorry about that, miss. But if you really do have it, I would like you to give it to us."

The girl stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. Didn't he hear her stating that she didn't receive her phone yet? The turtle wouldn't rely on her either, like she was _lying_ to them! She glared at the turtle.

"Don't you trust me?"

Leo had a confused look. "What?"

"I already told you I don't have it." she declared, continuing to glare at the turtle before her. "If you trust me, then you would believe me."

He sighed in exasperation. "Look, I told you to get it by today."

"And that's _my_ fault?" she raised her voice, glowering at Leo.

Donnie, Mikey, and Raph remained still and watched the two quarreling. They literally felt the dark aura surrounding the turtle and the human. This could get nasty.

Leo gave a dirty look. "It was _your_ responsibility."

He heard the girl scoff. "_I_ have reasons, y'know? And what are you, my father? What'cha gonna do? Threaten me like last time?"

Okay, perhaps menacing the girl wasn't a huge help. It had actually made things worse. But Raphael was right; Leo couldn't just patiently wait for it. He didn't want to repeat the Spider Bytez incident. He and his brothers had almost been in serious danger of exposure last time. And he was not going to blunder it. Not again.

The girl had a snotty attitude, and Leo was becoming slightly ticked off.

He scowled at the human. "I will do it again if you won't give us the phone."

Thankfully, Donatello jumped in the conversation, breaking the thunderstorm between the two. "Stop it, you guys. Fighting wouldn't solve anything."

The two stood silent, both attempting not to violently attack each other. They both knew that Donatello was right. Leo watched the human girl calm herself down, her shoulders slumping down.

"Sis?"

Jocelyn and the turtles looked over to the figure that stood next to the opening door, leading to the rooftop. It was Peter.

"Peter! You're not allowed up here!"

The young boy ignored his cousin and looked over at the giant turtles. They appeared again! It wasn't his imagination. He knew he was telling the truth to his mother.

Peter ran up towards the turtles to get a closer view. "It's them! It's really them! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!" he exclaimed while jumping up and down in excitement.

The turtles sweat-dropped at the boy, wearing the horrid costume made of paper bags. However, Mikey chuckled at the sight of the cute little kid. "Awesome! Check out the outfit, dudes! Change the color to orange. Heard the orange one is way cooler." Winking at the boy, Mikey ran to avoid being strangled by his older brother.

Jocelyn sighed at the sight. She had known this was coming. Peter was going to meet them eventually. "Peter, go back inside."

She heard her baby cousin gasping. He wore a pleading look on his face. "Pleaseeee, sis! Lemme stay! I wanna know their names!"

"Okay, fine."

Peter was back to being thrilled. "Yay!"

"Remember, don't tell Auntie!" Jocelyn watched Peter running towards the orange turtle still being strangled by the red aggressive one.

She turned back and glanced at the other two turtles, waiting for the girl's answer. The blue turtle still looked displeased. Jocelyn sighed again. When did this all begin again? The déjà vu was palpable.

"Look, I promise I'll have it in a few days. Just give me more time."

Leo hesitated to answer after being nudged on the side by his brother. Maybe he was being too harsh on the female. "Alright, I'll give you one more chance. Remember to keep your word." And with that, he left Donatello and the girl alone.

Donnie understood Leo's situation. Surely, Donnie would act the same way if he became the leader of the team. Splinter relied on Leonardo and he is responsible for everything, including his brothers. And the girl had no clue what was going on with him whatsoever. Taking a quick glance at her, Donnie determined she continued to be infuriated by Leo.

He intentionally coughed to cut off the awkward silence. "Pardon me, but I think we met in the wrong circumstances." Donnie stuck out his hand towards the girl. "Hi, I'm Donatello. But my brothers call me Donnie."

Jocelyn smiled at the purple masked turtle, accepting his hand. "The name's Jocelyn Stone. Over there is my baby cousin, Peter Stone." They both watched Raphael still wrestling with Mikey while Peter cheered for Mikey to get up.

"The three of them are my brothers. Red is Raphael, Orange is Michelangelo, and the blue is Leonardo."

Jocelyn glanced at Leonardo,who had reappeared and was attempting to stop the hassle between Raph and Mikey. Apparently, Mikey overheard the conversation between Donnie and Jocelyn. "Just letting you know that the names ending with an 'o' are much more awesome." At the speed of light, Raph leaped on Mikey to strangle him again.

Leonardo forcefully pulled Raph away from Mikey. "Okay, enough you two! We have no time. We still have to find the mutagen."

"So that's it?" Raph exclaimed. "You're just gonna let her off the hook?"

"There's no point in coming here if she doesn't have the video. Now let's go." After Leo jumping off the building, eventually, his brothers followed him.

Peter waved them farewell. "Bye-bye, turtles!"

Before leaving, Mikey waved back the little boy goodbye. "See ya, later bud!"

Watching them disappear, Peter still wore the huge smile. "I like them, sis."

Jocelyn raised her eyebrow. "You do?"

Peter happily nodded. "Yep! I hope we could see them again!"

"Oh, I hope not."

Honestly, today was an _extremely_ long day.

But little did she know that a couple of black figures were spying on the girl chatting with the giant turtles. They disappeared soon after.

* * *

><p>Three Foot soldiers landed onto the rooftop, meeting a mysterious giant black figure hidden in the shadows. All three bowed before the silhouette. The figure had a heavily fearsome presence, causing the soldiers to tremble in fear.<p>

One of the ninja spoke up. "We spotted the turtles."

A growl came out from the mysterious figure. "Where were they?"

"T-They were with two humans." The other ninja stuttered.

"Humans? April O'Neil and the boy?"

The third ninja was brave enough to step toward the figure. "No. They met new humans. A girl with strawberry blond hair and a petite boy with curly brown hair."

The figure hesitated to reply. "…I see. We shall report this to Master Shredder."

"Yes, sir!" shouted all three Foot ninja.

The black silhouette stepped out from the shadows revealing himself; Tiger Claw.

Tiger Claw snarled. "I have a plan."

-End of Chapter 3

* * *

><p><strong>~~~Author's Notes: Still continuing working on the fourth chapter. However, that chapter may be longer and since college and work gets in the way of the story, it may take a while for me to publish the fourth chapter. Seriously, sorry you guys be patient and look forward to the next chapter. There's so many things happening after this and I promise you, not going to upset you on the next chapter! You'll love it! :D Review plz! Lemme know if I made any errors...<strong>

**Here's a sneak peek quotes on the next up-coming chapter:**

_"Why would you do that? You know he can't know anything about Karai!"_

_"Up next, Charlotte Johnson vs. Jocelyn Stone!"_

_"Sayonara."_

_"The new girl could be our target to victory."_

_~xpetunia~_


	4. Chapter 4: A Set Up (1)

**Chapter Four: A Set Up (Part 1)**

**~~~Author's Notes:**

**Took me a LONG ASS while to complete this and I deeply apologize for that. Like I said on my last chapter of this story, based on college and other works that suddenly came up, it gets in the way of completing this story. And it was also too long so decided to break it apart. **

**In the previous chapter...**

_**Jocelyn found out Peter saw her meeting the turtles and told him not to talk about it to Aunt Darcy. Eventually, he agreed. Meanwhile, the turtles discussed in the kitchen if the girl is truly reliable to get the video back but almost got caught talking about the problem by Master Splinter. Jocelyn gets ready for her tournament with the beast; Charlotte Johnson while the turtles heads to her apartment. At their second meeting, Jocelyn told the truth that she didn't have the video yet. Leo thought she was lying which made Jocelyn angry at him. Afterwards, three foot ninjas spotted a new girl with the turtles and informing it to Tiger Claw...**_

**Translation:**

****Ganbatte-good luck/do your best**

****Sayonara-goodbye**

**So hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

Four giant silhouettes ran across the full moon that lit up the night sky, leaping from building to building.

When they landed on the ground, they ended up in an unknown alleyway. The other three figures followed the taller one holding a mutagen scanner. After their meeting with the human girl, they decided to patrol around the area looking for more canisters of mutagen. "It should be somewhere around this area..." Donatello said to his brothers.

However, his brothers weren't concentrating on looking for the mutagen tanks. Raphael continued to have doubts on the girl, while Michelangelo had his thoughts on the wicked costume that the little boy was wearing. Leonardo had his mind on meeting Karai soon.

"...You guys?"

Leonardo whipped his head up, facing Donnie. "Huh? Oh, sorry Donnie."

He heard Donnie sigh.

"Honestly guys, focus. I know that everything's a complete mess, but it's our fault that the mutagen ended up all around the city and we need to focus on that for now." That was odd. When did Donnie became the leader of the team?

After Donatello's statement, the others began to search around the alleyway for the canisters of mutagen. Raphael was still thinking about the girl. "...Do you think we should trust her?"

Donnie glanced at Raph. "Of course we should. She kept her word, Raph. You should be more considerate."

Raphael frowned in response and continued to look through the garbage for the mutagen. When did Donnie became the new Leo? He heard his youngest brother blabbering about the little boy's horrid costume.

"The kid's costume was pretty awesome!" Mikey exclaimed, "He's like a huge fan of us!"

Raphael smirked. "More like a fan of mine."

"Hey! He doesn't know me yet! He'll change his mind!"

After a few minutes of searching through the trash, Leo stood up and rapidly climbed onto a fire escape. He wanted to see her again.

"Leo? Where are you going?" Donatello asked.

"Huh? Oh, uhm...keep looking guys. I'll go search for some more over there." He pointed over a random direction and headed on top of the building, disappearing.

Raphael grunted. How many times has he already met up with the female ninja? Honestly, Raphael occasionally questioned himself why Leo was picked as leader if all he does was going to meet a stupid girl. "There he goes again."

Mikey wore a confused look on his face. "'Again'?" Raphael's response was a face-palm.

"He's ditching us again for HER."

"Aww, what man? Didn't he already meet her yesterday?"

Donnie only sighed. He knew how much Leo really liked the young foot ninja. Donatello experienced being in love with a girl that he can never have. And he still was. "I guess they're meeting every night now."

* * *

><p>Leonardo stood on top of the rooftop, where they first encountered. He waited until that one special (and gorgeous) girl that he kept daydreaming about to show up.<p>

This building was always their meeting place. It reminded him about their first battle; intense and exciting-not including the powder. Took him a while to get those bothersome red eyes to fade away. The area hadn't really changed, same old stores and buildings, streetlights, direction signs, and etc. However, the huge poster sign where he first saw her standing on was completely different. Leo even remembered what the poster sign was. Instead of 'Drink Boboco Cola', it had a young female wearing a red lingerie saying, 'Ella Stone's New Victoria's Secret Lingerie for $89!'

Looking at the new poster sign made Leo cringed. He'd rather drink a Boboco cola than buy a lingerie for 89 dollars. Why would he buy a lingerie anyways? Perhaps for...

Leonardo blushed at the thought of her wearing the exotic outfit. He'd never want to buy her that! Even though he was curious of what she'll look like in that outfit...

Cutting off his perverted fantasies, he sensed someone's presence behind him and quickly whipped his head around. And there she was, the person that he looked forward to meet all day; Karai.

Gazing upon her magnificent figure made him smile.

The wind gradually blew her silky straight yet short hair, the way he liked it. The long strands of her hair brushed against her pale and silky skin, wearing the usual make-up. Leo wondered what Karai would look like without the make-up. Of course, she'd still look gorgeous without it. He continued to stare upon Karai, watching her walking towards him. He observed every movement she made, giving him a tingling feeling deep inside. Everything about Karai made him tingly. And he loved that wonderful sensational feeling.

"I hope you weren't bored without me."

Ah, yes. Her voice was always wonderful to hear, like music to his ears.

Leo smirked. "I wasn't. Since I was mostly thinking about you."

Before Karai could give him a mischievous smirk, she glanced above the talking turtle. "Or you were thinking about that."

Pointing at the direction where she was looking, Leo's face flushed in embarrassment, making Karai think that he was really daydreaming about the young woman on the poster.

"N-No! I wasn't!"

Karai chuckled at his embarrassment. "Still adorable as always." She watched Leo as the color of his face deepened. "But your flirtation progressed." Receiving a nervous smile, she drew and raise her sword.

"Well then, shall be begin?"

Ah, yes. The exciting part begins.

Leonardo began to drew both of his katanas. "Make the best fighter win."

**"Ganbatte."

Leonardo and Karai ran towards each other, both striking at the same time. Her speed was fast as usual; he almost couldn't keep up. Rapidly swinging their swords, they immediately dodged each other's attack. Leo glanced above, watching Karai flip backwards to keep a long distance between them. He grasped his katana and ran towards the Foot ninja, swinging his two swords at her in different directions. Immediately dodging the attack by ducking, Karai stabbed Leo with the handle of her sword causing him to stumble, dropping both of his katana. Before he could reach one of his swords, Karai pressed her sword onto the ground next to Leo's head, making him pause.

"Looks like I'm on top."

Leo frowned, glancing up at Karai beating him again. "Not for long..."

The turtle rapidly got to his feet and swung his left leg at a 180 degree angle, tripping her. Karai didn't expect it and lost her footing. At once she was close to the edge of the building, Leonardo caught Karai at the speed of light, gradually dipping her back and slightly leaning over her.

She watched the corner of his lips turning upwards, smirking. "Not anymore."

Leo received a smile from her. "I guess... its a draw tonight."

He wished they could remain in this position forever. Feeling her fingertips on his plastron, lightly stroking it and his hands holding her back while he was on top of her. It felt marvelous. And he knew Karai also find it very satisfying.

Sadly, the pleasant feeling faded when he slowly dipped her back up. Karai grabbed her sword from the ground and jumped on the edge of the building. She glanced back at him and smiled.

**"Sayonara."

And with that she disappeared.

Leo faced the other direction and headed home, looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow night.

* * *

><p>Donnie, Mikey, and Raph entered the lair after searching for more mutagen canisters. However, there was no luck in finding at least one tank. Once they entered to the lair, they found Splinter standing in the middle of the room, expecting them to come home.<p>

"Good evening, my sons..." Master Splinter glanced at the clock reading 12:45 A.M. "Or should I say, 'good morning.'?"

They all flinched. "Sensei! What are you doing here?" Donnie exclaimed, slapping himself inside his head by his stupidity. Honestly, what a ridiculous question to ask to Master Splinter. Obviously, he knew why Splinter was here.

Master Splinter lightly tapped his cane. "I was wondering where my sons went off to and why they had come back so late. Why is Leonardo not with you?"

Donnie nervously chuckled. Oh, there was definitely something that they were hiding from him. "Uhm... well, Master Splinter... you see... Leo's-"

Unexpectedly, Mikey cut him off, exclaiming something that wasn't suppose to be said to Splinter.

"Leo's meeting his girl-"

Raphael hit Mikey on the head, cutting him off. "Mikey!" His little brother wore an anxious smile on his face, realizing a dark aura surrounding the brothers. It was Master Splinter.

He was not pleased.

Splinter tightly grasped his cane after hearing the news from Mikey. "A girl? I told you _not_ to have contact with any more humans."

"Master Splinter, she's alright. She won't tell anyone," spoke Donnie, waving both of his hand nervously in defense.

However, Raph thought of the opposite. He huffed in annoyance. "At least not for now."

Donnie rolled his eyes. Honestly, Raphael couldn't trust anyone or anything in this world. Taking a glance at his father, Splinter began to calm down, attempting to keep his composure and losing his grip of his cane. "What is the girl's name?"

The three brothers stared at each other in consternation. They couldn't say the female that Leo has been meeting every night is Karai. That could end up in multiple matters for everyone. Especially the fact that she was Shredder's daughter.

They knew what they had to do. They have to make up a lie.

The three nodded in agreement. It was a major dilemma indeed but it was for the sake of keeping their family together.

"Her name's Jocelyn..." said Mikey.

Splinter's left brow rose. "Jocelyn? When did he meet this Jocelyn?"

Donnie stuttered. "I-It's a long story, Sensei. He met her a few days ago."

"I see... and Leonardo has a 'bond' with this girl?"

Oh, he sure does have a 'bond' with her. A bond to make them strangle each other to death. Raph remembered the last time when they both craved to exchange fists with each other's faces.

Raph hesitated to answer as the corners of his lip tucked down. "...Yeah, he does."

Suddenly, Mikey pulled out his T-phone to Splinter, revealing an image. The screen violently brightened the giant rat's face. "Here's a picture of her!"

Donnie glanced at Mikey; nervously smiling. "When did you take that?"

"Ninja skills, bro!"

Of course. That make sense.

Splinter glanced at the image in the electronic device. The girl wore a side French braid, falling over her shoulder. She had a yellow sports bra with black tights. 'She boxes?' Splinter thought to himself, while stroking his chin in interest, impressed by the girl knowing how to fight on her own.

"I approve."

The turtles wore expressions of disbelief and dismay. Especially Raphael."What? Really?" asked Raph.

"Yes. However," Splinter said, slowly glancing down at his sons. "Can we trust this girl to keep us secret?"

They all hesitated to answer that question. Since half of the brothers trusted her while the other half didn't, they weren't so positive about it. But Mikey and Donnie nodded.

"Yeah, we do," Donnie said, glancing back at Raph. "Right, Raph?"

Raph sighed in aggravation. Seriously, what complete chaos they were in. "I guess..."

Splinter gave a small nod to his sons. "Very well. When Leonardo arrives, send him to the dojo."

"Hai, Sensei," the three said in unison while Splinter walked into the dojo. Raphael slouched onto the sofa, irritated beyond belief. "Great. Just great. And how are we going to tell this to Leo?"

"I guess we have to explain to him the truth," said Donnie with a sigh.

Mikey frowned, feeling the guilt inside of him that he has caused this mess. "I'm sorry, bros. It's my fault. I just can't keep secrets from Master Splinter."

Raph glanced at his little brother in sympathy. He wasn't expecting an apology from him at all. Besides, it wasn't entirely his fault. Raph reached to pat Mikey's shell, giving him a warm smile. "It's not your fault, Mike. We all make mistakes."

"Raph's right, Mikey. We all tend to say something that we shouldn't say. It happens occasionally," spoke Donnie also giving his little brother a toothy smile.

After hearing their statement of comforting him, Mikey slowly wore a huge grin on his face; back to being himself again. "Awe, thanks bros! You guys are the best!"

Raphael re-positioned himself on the couch to find a comfortable spot to relax. "Yeah. The one who's at fault is the troublemaker that isn't here yet."

"Hey guys!" A voice spoke up.

"Talk about the troublemaker himself," muttered Raph, watching his brother Leo casually walking towards them. Raphael's frown deepened at the sight of his brother's face. He seemed to be in a happy mood.

Of course he is. He's always in a good mood after meeting his _girlfriend_ every nighttime. Honestly, he never understood why Leo was picked as leader if all he does was going to meet her everyday.

Suddenly, Leo watched his little brother running towards Leo and went on his knees in front of him while grabbing his leg for mercy. "Leo! We are so sorry, man! Please forgive us!" Mikey wore his teary-yet adorable eyes.

...Did he miss anything important while he was gone?

Leo stared down at Mikey in confusion. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"If only you didn't meet _her_ tonight, this wouldn't happen," muttered Raph while crossing his arms tucking it behind his head.

Leo frowned. "What did you do?"

"Well..." Donnie said with an anxious laugh. "...we might have unintentionally told Master Splinter that you were 'visiting' someone..."

Leo's eyes enlarged. How could they _'unintentionally'_ told Splinter about her?

"What? Why would you do that? You know he can't know anything about Karai!"

Raph rolled his eyes in response and spoke with a sarcastic tone. "Cool down, Fearless. We didn't say anything about Karai."

"You didn't? Then, who-"

Donnie cut him off. "It's the new girl we just met."

Then, time suddenly stopped. Leo repeated the words in his head what Donnie had said. He can feel his head completely exploded and had a stunned expression on his face.

"...Her?!"

Mikey frowned, still upset by the fact that he started all of this. "I'm sorry, bro! It's all my fault..."

Leo glanced at his little brother and wore a worried expression on his face. Mikey usually didn't get this depressed by his mistakes. Sure, Mikey made mistakes...well, _a lot_ of mistakes, but Leo knew he didn't mean to tell Splinter about it.

Leo planted his hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's fine, Mikey. You guys tried to cover for me."

"At least he didn't know about the troublemaker girl," said Raphael.

Leo sense his brother approaching, Donnie approaching him. "Also, Master Splinter wants to speak with you in the Dojo. It probably involves with the girl."

Leo nodded before going into the Dojo, preparing himself to talk some serious matters with his Sensei and father. He sights Master Splinter sitting on the carpet in front of the giant tree, meditating. Leo wasn't fully prepared to face his father and discuss about the little lie that his brothers made up.

"Father..."

When his son spoke, Splinter still remain meditating, knowing that his son was watching him.

"Come in, my son."

Splinter slowly opened his eyes to find his eldest son sitting on the carpet, facing him with a determination expression on his face. He bowed to his father soon after.

"You wanted to ask something, Father?"

"Your brothers told me about 'your' girl."

Leo frowned at his response. That _girl_ wasn't _his girl_ at all. She was an annoying girl with an attitude that could not take responsibility!

But in all honesty, he wasn't even sure why he felt furious towards the girl.

Sure, the girl has an attitude but that is no reason to feel hatred towards her. Leo wished he knew her situation. And if only she knew his, this chaos wouldn't even existed. Or perhaps the fact that he was being too harsh on her...or she was being a bit snotty towards him. Whether he was too panicky of getting caught by a video tape again or the fact that she reminded him of an annoying female version of Raphael that led to their little argument, he wasn't sure.

Whatever the reason was that caused this mess, Leo wished they didn't passionately hate each other like it had come to. He decided to be more sincere to her once they met again.

"Is it true, Leonardo?"

Snapping the thoughts out of his head, he hesitantly nodded to Master Splinter. "...Yes."

Not only did Leo felt upset that he and the girl continued to fight but it displeased him that the girl that Splinter knew of wasn't Karai.

"Leonardo, I am not mad."

Leo whipped his head up and blinked in response. "You're not?"

He wasn't? Not even a tiny bit?

"No...and yes. I am only upset that you did not tell me of it and kept it secret from me."

Leo knew that. He felt guilty that he had to keep secrets from Splinter.

Splinter watched as Leonardo bowed again. "...I'm sorry, Father. I shouldn't have hid it from you. I didn't know how you would take it if I told you the truth."

Splinter kept his stern expression while staring down at his eldest son.

"Leonardo. Lift your head."

Listening to his father, Leo raised his head up to face him.

"I trust you in having someone special in your life. But before I accept this girl into our home, do you completely trust and love her?"

Leo thought of Karai and nodded. "Yes, Father."

After his response, he felt guilt inside his gut, continuing to keep secrets from Master Splinter.

**-End of Part 1**


	5. Chapter 4: A Set Up (2)

**~~~A/Ns: **

**Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday! (However, I didn't since I was being squashed by hundreds of people in the mall on Black Friday...I'm never shopping on Black Friday again...) Anyways, I decided to post the second part of the story w/o my beta editing it. She NEEDS a break. I can't keep relying on her every single chapter so it's understandable. So here it is! Lemme know if you catch any mistakes. **

**In the previous part...**

_**Leonardo met up with Karai and had the time of his life. Meanwhile, Splinter awaits his sons coming back from the sewers so late. He noticed his son, Leo was not back yet until Mikey unintentionally exclaimed that Leo was meeting up with a girl. Splinter wanting to know about Leo's girl, the three brothers made up a lie so Splinter will not know about the foot clan ninja. The turtles told Splinter that Leo's girl is named Jocelyn. Leonardo came back from the surface and met Master Splinter in the Dojo. Splinter told his son about the girl; Jocelyn and accepting her to the family. Splinter does not know that Leo was really meeting up with Karai. And so, more secrets were hidden from Master Splinter...**_

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

><p>Jocelyn's POV<p>

The building was ginormous, stretching its length about approximately two football fields. There was a huge sign on front of the building saying 'Women's National Golden Gloves Tournament!' Hundreds of people surrounded the boxing arena and the stadium roaring and cheering for the young female boxers facing against each other. Today is the day for that one strong opponent to win the big competition and gain the Golden Gloves.

Will the winner be that one special girl? The one girl with strawberry blonde hair that's been practicing boxing for many years named Joce-

"No it will _not_."

Kris frowned at her negative comment. "Lighten up, kiddo. This is your big moment to actually win the Golden Gloves! You're able to go to the finale after blowing off Charlotte!" exclaimed her boxing coach in excitement.

However, Jocelyn was in no good mood at all. Reminding herself about the situation she's in with the turtles is not helping her focus on today's competition. And one of them completely pissed her off the most.

...What was his name again? Rio? The blue bird from the Rio movie-or whatever his name is?

Because how dare he threaten her like that...again! What did she ever do to him anyways? Thinking about him made her fist clench tightly, craved to actually pound the turtle's face and ripping him off his shell.

The look Jocelyn wore on her face made Kris glancing at her in curiosity. "You seem to be mad at something..."

Hearing her coach speak, Jocelyn suddenly stopped thinking of the multiple ways to torture the turtle. "...yeah. Sorry, Kris. But I'm not sure if I'll ever win this competition."

Suddenly, Kris thought of a great idea.

"Oh, you'll win, alright."

Jocelyn watched Kris slowly giving her a mischievous smirk. She had no idea what he was thinking about. "And how can you be so sure?"

He planted both his palms on her shoulders. "Miss Jocelyn. Think about what makes you mad and throw all that anger out on Charlotte!"

Jocelyn's eyes widened. It wasn't a bad idea. She might actually win the competition if she kept that in mind.

Once she nodded her head, a sudden loud bell rang echoing the stadium. The crowd roared and cheered after the announcer naming the female's name who won against her opponent. It's time. She was now going to face her opponent, the monstrous Charlotte Johnson. Unexpectedly, Kris roughly slapped Jocelyn's back towards the ring. She felt the burn of the slap remaining on her back. Jocelyn felt like she just had a tattoo from a slap.

"Ow!"

"Get 'er, kiddo! You can do it! Remember what I told you!"

Rubbing the burning feeling on her back, Jocelyn faced the stadium and climbed to the right corner of the ring. While her feet landed onto the ground, she sights her opponent on the opposite side; Charlotte Johnson. Charlotte wore an angry expression on her face, making her tan skin turning red. Her dark brunette hair was tied back into a ponytail and her muscles were thicker than before, thicker than Jocelyn's thin limbs. Her brown eyes never left Jocelyn's and dangerously glaring at her for minutes.

Jocelyn gulped. She began to have doubts in defeating Charlotte while looking back at her. How on earth did she gain those huge muscles?

...Steroids?

_'Please don't joke about this, Jo,'_ she told herself while shaking the jokes off her head. The announcer approached to her after speaking with Charlotte.

"You ready, Ms. Stone?"

Jocelyn coughed a couple of times. "Hum..urmm, uhm.. erm, yeah! Bring it!" she said in a deep tone acting to be brave and tough.

The announcer slowly approached to her while looking back at Charlotte nervously and whispered, "Just so y'know. I wish you all the good luck." And with that, he walked away going towards the middle of the ring.

Jocelyn stared at him in disbelief. It sounded like she wasn't going to make it out alive!

_'Don't tell me that!'_

The announcer grabbed the microphone that echoed throughout the stadium. "Up next, Charlotte Johnson vs Jocelyn Stone!" The crowd screamed and cheered after hearing the next female boxer's names.

After taking a few deep breaths, Jocelyn stood up from her seat and gradually walked towards the middle of the ring while Charlotte did the same. The announcer glances both of the fighters. "You girls ready?" They both nodded after the announcer took a few steps away from the girls to reach his microphone and create their fighting stance.

Before it started, Charlotte spoke, "You're going down, Stone."

Jocelyn raised one of her eyebrow. "Stones don't break."

"They do when I break your bones."

"Your name doesn't fit you anyways."

Charlotte glared at the insult. "What was that?" She watched the thin girl wearing a fake smile. "Your name is really pretty!"

"Your face is really pretty too," Charlotte complimented. Jocelyn blushed. "R-Really?"

"It will once I fix them."

_'Oh, she's gonna get it.'_

After hearing three rings from the bell, the announcer held his microphone to his mouth, raises his arm towards the ceiling and soon after swinging it back down.

"And Begin!"

Jocelyn reminded herself what Kris told her after glancing at her coach fist pumping in the air outside the ring. She slowly closes her eyes and goes deep into her mind. As the noises around the ring began to fade, she imagines the image of the turtle, his stern face, his body shape, his movements, his voice, those two swords behind his shell. Once picturing the image of the turtle, she slowly opens her honey brown eyes.

And there he was.

Instead of Charlotte Johnson, the blue masked turtle stood before her making his fighting stance, both fist on the sides of his head, with determination on his face. Oh, how she hated the sight of the damn turtle. A dark aura surrounds her, dangerously glaring at him and taking all the anger in, ready to let it out and throw it all at him.

Jocelyn tightens both of her fists beneath her boxing gloves, lifting it on front of her face, preparing her attack.

The blue masked turtle spoke, "It was _your_ resposibl-"

"Oh, shut up," she said, cutting his sentence off.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

She sighed in irritation. "Don't you remember what you did to me last time?" Jocelyn's voice began to rise. "You threatened me TWICE for a stupid video in my phone."

The turtle frowned. "And that's a good reason to hate me?"

"Yes! Yes, it is!" she exclaimed grinding her teeth, furiously. "Because being the impatient turtle you are, you jumped into conclusions, assuming that I was lying for not having the video and not even trusting me at all, making me the bad person in this situation!"

"You kind of are acting like one-"

"I am not! See? You're doing it again! You don't understand what's going on in my life, so don't assume that I started this and that I'm the bad one here! I'm not! I'm-" Her voice suddenly died down before remembering a short flashback in her past. Reminding the memories of her past made her fought the tears behind her burning eyes while shutting it closed. That's when she questioned herself.

Was she really the bad one?

"...I'm not the bad one..." her voice sounded unsure, whether she really is or not.

There was no response from the turtle.

Shaking the thoughts away, Jocelyn glared back at him, recreating her fighting stance. "You don't know anything about me."

"You don't know a thing about me either."

She frowned by his response. "I still have a reason to hate you. And I'm still beating you to a pulp."

"You're really going to do that?"

"Watch me."

"I don't believe you."

She deepened her frown. "You never even did." Once she was about to make her attack, she suddenly stopped herself. She hesitated. She couldn't move herself. 'Why did I stop?'

Then she knew. Because deep down inside her, she knew it wasn't right to beat him up.

"...What I did before, I didn't mean it."

Since when did his voice become so sincere? Taking a glance of the turtle, his fighting stance was gone and his face so calm yet was looking at her with sympathy in his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

What is this? When was he even apologetic? Jocelyn looked away from his face, attempting to avoid eye contact. Suddenly his voice sounded close.

"Jocelyn."

Hearing her name from his voice made her shiver. She didn't knew why though. Slowly glancing back at the turtle, her eyes widened when his face was now in front of Jocelyn's. She couldn't move herself to get away from him. His blue eyes looked deep into hers. And she stared deep into his. Her heart began to race when she stared into those deep blue eyes.

Those blue eyes. It was intoxicating yet wonderful feeling, hard to look away from it. It reminded her of that time where they first met on the fire escape. Those same blue eyes that looked like the blue ocean, the feeling of his soft breathing was the same, and the feeling of his mask brushing against hers. Except she wasn't wearing a mask this time. It was just her skin. And she can sense his mask brushing slowly against her face.

So close.

She began to close her eyes until that feeling drew closer and closer-

"JOCELYN!"

Quickly snapping her eyes open, the noise of the cheering crowd continues and she was back in the competition. However, Jocelyn's view was completely blocked by Charlotte punching her right into her face in slow-motion. She fell onto the ground backwards.

Jocelyn felt pain on her left side of her face, causing her vision turn into blackness.

* * *

><p>A familiar voice called out her name. "Jocelyn?"<p>

Jocelyn's response was a groan. Slowly, her vision came clear. It was Aunt Darcy.

Darcy sighed in relief. "Thank god, you're okay."

"Wha...?" Jocelyn rubbed her eyes, however she felt one of her eye was covered by an eye-patch, and a bandage was wrapped around her head. She realizes that she was lying on one of the infirmary beds.

"The hell happened...?"

Darcy lightly brushed her injured forehead. "You passed out, hon'. Came out of work to get you."

"'Passed out'? What happened to the competition?"

"You lost," replied Kris coming into the infirmary room. "Charlotte hit you good."

"F*ck," Jocelyn cursed.

Darcy frowned at her niece. "Don't swear, Jocelyn."

Jocelyn felt her head pounding like a drum after gaining consciousness. She couldn't believe she lost the competition. The once in her lifetime and her dream to win the Golden Gloves, gone.

She heard her coach sigh in annoyance. "It's a shame. You didn't even lay a finger on Charlotte."

Jocelyn stared at Kris in disbelief. "I didn't?"

"You didn't even make a move!" he exclaimed. "You just stood there like you were about to cry!"

Jocelyn wore a confused look on her face. "C-Cry?"

"And then a few seconds later, you had a duck face with your lips puckered up! And Charlotte hesitated whether she should punch you or not." Kris shook his head, face palming himself. "What an embarrassment..."

Jocelyn's face flushed in deep redness. Not only because of the humiliation she acted in front of hundreds of people but the fact that she acted that way was because of her stupid imagination during the competition! Reminding herself of the embarrassing imagination made her heart leaped for a second...

She crunched her nose in disgust unintentionally reacting that way. What the hell is happening to her?

Aunt Darcy glances up at Kris and smiled. "Thank you for taking care of my niece."

Kris nodded in response. "It's no problem, Ms. Stone. I'll call whenever she gets into trouble. Maybe when she daydreams again."

Jocelyn muttered something beneath her breath, obviously was pissed that she lost the competition or what her coach said to her aunt.

After their little conversation, Aunt Darcy took her niece into their van and drove off.

Darcy glanced at her niece looking out the window for a few seconds while driving. "You should be more careful."

Jocelyn sighed. "I know." She rubbed the bandage that was wrapped around her forehead. "I was a little distracted."

"'A little'? Hon', you were badly hurt," said Darcy in a worried tone.

"I know I know. It won't happen again, Auntie. I can handle myself."

Darcy frowned. "No, you can't."

"Yes, I can. That's why I joined boxing."

"No, you cannot. And that's the reason why I'm making you quit."

Jocelyn eyes widened and looked at her aunt in disbelief. Why all of a sudden was she doing this to her?

"Auntie! No, I'm not quitting boxing!"

"You are now! Jocelyn, I can't stand to see you in that kind of condition again! I just_can't_!"

Realizing what her aunt exclaimed, she stayed silent. She must have reminded herself about the past. She knew it wasn't Darcy's fault. She was just worried about her niece.

"...I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Darcy looked back at the road, passes by a couple of vehicles. "You need some rest."

There was no response from Jocelyn. Maybe she was the bad one after all. She was furious with herself, how she did not understood others feelings. But most of all, she didn't understood herself. What's wrong with her?

"I took away your class session this month. I thought it might help."

Jocelyn slowly nodded, looking out the window. "...yeah. I think I need that."

* * *

><p>Entering their apartment room, Jocelyn was licked by the dog, happily greeting her home. Jocelyn sighed in relief while ruffling Bubba's fur. She still felt the overpowering numbness and pain in every inch of her muscles. She needed a rest alright.<p>

A couple of sniffles were heard from a distance. Jocelyn stood up to see Peter crawled up into a ball on the sofa. His head was buried under his knees but Jocelyn knew he was crying.

"What happened to Peter?" asked Jocelyn.

Darcy just smiled in sympathy. "He was really worried when I told him the news about you."

Hearing Jocelyn's voice, Peter rapidly whipped his head up to sight his cousin. More tears came streaming down his small face. "Sis..."

While sobbing, his cousin wrapped her arms around his petite body into a warm embrace. "Hey, Peter. You don't have to cry anymore."

Peter wiped the snout from his nose and sniffled. "B-But Sis got hurt...I don't want my Sis hurt..."

His cousin wiped the tears from his eyes. "It's fine, Peter. I'll be alright."

And with that, Peter stopped sniffling. His eyes and nose were completely pink from crying too much. "Promise?"

"I promise," she said with a smile plastered.

Peter pouted held out his left pinky towards her. "Pinky Promise!"

Jocelyn chuckled a little and pulled out her pinky finger, crossing it with her baby cousin's tightening the grip. "Pinky Promise."

After making their promise, Peter smiled. His sadness instantly faded away, relief that Jocelyn will be okay from now on.

Darcy smiled at the sight. "Alright, Peter. I think your cousin needs her rest."

Jocelyn stretches her limbs up on the air. "Yeah, Gonna pass out in a bit. Then I'll walk Bubba later."

Peter quickly got up from the couch, wiping the remaining moisture off his face. "Lemme come with chu, Sis!"

Jocelyn glanced down at her baby cousin, a little surprised. "Peter, you don't have to..."

Peter wore a determined face. "But I want to! I want to protect you...!"

She gave him a gentle smile before he continued to speak and putting on the colored paper bag over his head, "...As one of the teenage mutant ninja turtle-!"

"No way in_ hell_ you're going out wearing that costume!"

Aunt Darcy laughed at the sight of her niece and adopted son bickering at each other whether Peter wears the costume or not. Bubba ran towards them, happily circling around the two. She loves this family.

"While you two do that, who wants Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?"

"Me!" they both said in unison.

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

"You guys met someone?"

April sounded slightly alarmed by the news. She didn't expect this to happen after Donatello explained to her and Casey everything what happened recently with the turtles.

"That's rough, man," replied Casey, settling down his hockey stick.

Donnie sighed in exhaustion, almost couldn't keep up with their situation right now. He still has the guilt feeling beneath him for lying to Master Splinter. Thankfully, Leonardo was keeping him busy and meditating with him after their little conversation about the girl. So it was a good time to explain their situation to April and Casey.

"I'm afraid so. Her name is Jocelyn Stone. Does it sound familiar to you?"

April shook her head in response. "No, not really."

However, Casey's response was a flirtatious smirk. "It's a girl, eh?"

April glared at his tone. "Casey..."

"Haha! No worries, Red. You're the only cutest chick in this city to me," flirted Casey, wrapping around his arm over her shoulder giving her a wink. He received a playful smirk from April.

Donnie purposely coughed and narrowed his eye lids. "Excuse me for interrupting but I'm sure you haven't heard of her before? I thought you would since she lives a few blocks away from your school."

Casey just shrugged. "Sorry, man. No luck."

"Perhaps you could describe her for us?" asked April.

Donnie tapped his chin with his finger. "Well, she has pale skin, a somewhat brown-reddish colored hair and light brown eyes."

Unexpectedly, Donnie was pushed by Mikey, showing April and Casey the photo of the girl in his T-Phone. Donnie frowned, rubbing his shoulder. "Here she is.~" said Mikey holding up his T-Phone.

Casey looked surprised after Mikey revealing the photo to him and April. "Hey, Red! Isn't she the girl from the other day?"

April gasped. "You're right! She's from our school!"

Donnie wore a confused look on his face. "'The other day'?"

"We saw her delivering pizza to us. She works at Antonio's Pizza."

Mikey's face lit up. "Thats so cool!"

"Huh. What a coincidence," stated Donnie, forming his toothy smile on his face.

April smiled. "Yeah! She didn't seem like a bad person to me."

April suddenly heard a scoff from Raphael. "Are you kidding me? She could be a bad person if she videotaped us!"

"Actually, It's a-"

"I don't care, Donnie!" exclaimed Raph in frustration.

Donnie frowned at Raph's response. "You like to judge people, don't you?"

"You just don't get it, do you? People out there can't be trusted!"

"But you got me, Raph," April spoke up. "And someone dumb as Casey wouldn't reveal you to the world."

Casey looked at April in disbelief, offended by her statement. "Hey!"

Raph groans in response. "That's not the point. All I'm saying is I'm not going to trust her."

They all decided not to argue with Raphael. Even though he had a good point, they all weren't so sure about the girl who videotaped them. Raph has his own opinion about the girl and they understood his reason and leave it that way.

Mikey shrugged. "Suit yourself, bro."

Donnie suddenly came up with an idea whether the girl is really trustworthy. "I think I have an idea. Since she saw us last night, why don't April and Casey ask if she saw something strange recently. It may prove that if she really is trustworthy. How does that sound?"

Raph was a bit impressed by Donnie's plan. "...Y'know, it ain't half bad. But I'm still keeping my word."

"Fair enough," Donnie glanced back at April. "Do you mind doing this favor?"

April shook her head. "Not at all. C'mon, Casey. Let's go."

Before the two humans left the Secret Lair, Mikey shouted them farewell. "Make sure to get some pictures!"

After hearing Mikey's request, all of them rolled their eyes.

-End of Part 2


	6. Chapter 4: A Set Up (3)

**Chapter Four: A Set Up (Part 3)**

**~~~A/N: Getting a few people reviewing, following, and favoriting this story made me SO HAPPY. Even though it's only a few people but, really, thank you! Cause I've never been this happy since it's my first story. :') Anyways, enough crying and let's get back to the story! Lemme know if you see any mistakes or grammar errors.**

**In the previous part...**

_**After losing the tournament from a stupid imagination, Jocelyn couldn't get her mind off of Leonardo in her head. Meanwhile, Donatello told April and Casey about their situation with the girl recording a video of them. Realizing that the two have met the girl once, April and Casey will meet her again if she was really trustworthy. However, things are turning from bad to worse when the Foot Clan makes a plan to destroy the turtles...**_

**Read&Review and please enjoy!**

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><p>April's POV<p>

The sun began to set at the horizon, reflecting the sunlight at the tall glass skyscrapers. Gazing at the sunset in the summertime was magnificent to see, the sky streaked shades of red, orange, yellow, purple, and a hint of pink. It was truly gorgeous to see with your eyes. Unless that's what April thinks.

April and Casey walked through the city close to the Stone's residence. April held the directions of the address where the girl is living in.

"Sure it's around here?" asked Casey, looking around the ghetto area, wrinkling his nose a bit.

April shrugged, unsure about it also. "Donnie did gave us directions to the apartment."

She stopped to glance around the area. Sure, the apartment buildings seemed a bit old and ghetto, but the stores weren't so bad. There were plenty of food stores that she hasn't tried out yet.

April smiled. "It isn't so bad here."

"Yeah. Her crib is close by to the Pizza Place. Lucky chick."

April couldn't help but frown a little by his response, feeling a hint of jealousy in her. Lucky, huh? "If you think she's so lucky, why don't you go live with her?"

She watched him laugh. "I think Red is jealous.~"

"I am _not_ jealous."

She was obviously jealous.

Casey's smile grew. "I'd sure dig it here, so I could eat some grub and take you out with me every day." He drew out his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder, leaning in towards her with a flirtatious grin. "Y'know, just you and me eating pizza alone and having fun."

He received a playful smile from her and nudges his side. "In your dreams, Casey."

Before he could rub the injury on his side, he sighted something familiar. "Hey! Look, Red!"

April looked where Casey is pointing over at. And there she was! It's the girl! Except she had company. She was walking with a petite boy with curly hair that kept petting the white pyrenees non-stop.

"It's her!" exclaimed April, waving at the girl. "Hey!"

Jocelyn looked over at the two people who called her. It's them again! She formed a smile on her face walking towards the two teenagers. "Oh, hey! Just walking my dog with Peter."

April crouched and smiles at the young boy. "Nice to meet you, Peter."

Peter made a huge grin. "Hi!"

"Brother?" asked Casey.

She shook her head. "Baby cousin, actually. He's 6 years-old."

April glanced at the giant white dog that Peter kept petting at. "What's the dog's name?"

"She's Bubba. Her breed is a great white Pyrenees."

"Wow! She's a big one, isn't she...uhm..."

Jocelyn smiled at April, put out her hand for a handshake. "Jocelyn Stone. I wouldn't mind you calling me Jo."

April gladly accepted her hand. "I'm April. April O'Neil." She glanced back at Casey. "And here's my friend, Casey."

Casey crossed his arms over his chest. "_Just_ a friend?"

"Shut it, Casey."

Casey laughed. "I'm just jokin', Red!" Not only was he laughing but Jocelyn find it amusing and chuckled a little at the two teens. "Anyways, the name's Casey Jones. And what up with the bruise?" he asked, looking at her bandage wrapped around her head and the eye patch.

April glared at Casey. "Casey..."

"What? Just curious."

Jocelyn smiled. "It's no biggie. I got it from my boxing competition a few hours ago."

Peter glanced over his cousin after playing with Bubba. "Sis got hurt..."

Casey looked a little stunned. "Boxing? That's rad!"

He watched Jocelyn shrugged. "Yeah, it didn't turn out well in the end."

April was concerned about the young female. "You're alright? Maybe you need to relax after the incident."

"Nah, I'm good. Took a nap a few minutes ago."

Suddenly, Peter came close to his cousin, circling around her figure protectively. "Imma protect my Sis!"

April giggled at the sight of the adorable 6 year-old. "Good. Anyways, we've wanted to ask you something."

"You've seen anything...strange last night?" spoke Casey.

Jocelyn wore a puzzled look. "Strange? Like?"

"Well," began April. "We might've seen weird big figures on the rooftops last night. Do you know something about it? We've wondered if you saw them too."

Jocelyn hesitated to answer. "...No, I haven't."

"Really? You haven't?" April looked at her suspiciously.

"Nope," she bluntly stated.

Peter looked confused. "But we-"

"_No, Peter_," Jocelyn cutting him off. "We _haven't_. Got it?"

It seemed pretty obvious that she did saw the turtles last night but she didn't want to tell April and Casey about it. Jocelyn didn't know what will happen to her if she did told them. Were the turtles going to do something horrible to her if they knew about it? Perhaps. Jocelyn shook at the thought of guessing how the turtles were going to punish her. She didn't want to know.

"Well, Red," spoke Casey. "She hasn't seen it. Guess we should go now."

April nodded. "Alright. I'll see you soon, Jocelyn!"

Jocelyn smiled and waved them farewell, including Peter. "Okay, see ya!"

When the teenagers made their separate ways, April slowly forms a gentle smile.

Casey glanced down at his friend. "What up, Red?"

"Nothing. It's just that... she really is trustworthy."

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

The orange sun settled on the horizon, lite up the Foot Headquarters church building; constructed in brick and glass. Tiger Claw and the three foot soldiers bowed down before the leader of the Foot Clan; Shredder. Next to the leader was the daughter of Shredder who will be taking the next place of the new leader leading the Foot Clan; Karai. Shredder glanced down at his followers slightly astonished to hear Tiger Claw's words.

"A girl?"

"Yes, Master Shredder. However, the girl is not April O'Neil," Tiger Claw stated.

Tiger Claw caught Karai's attention as she lifted her eyebrow.

Shredder leaned back into his chair in interest. "Oh? Explain the appearance of this...girl."

"Thin, pale skin, strawberry blonde hair. We saw her with the turtles on the rooftop."

"The turtles?" asked Karai in a concerned tone. Receiving a growl from the giant tiger, she glared dangerously at him. She decided to keep her mouth shut not choosing to begin a fight with the giant tiger.

However, Shredder noticed this but letting Tiger Claw continue to speak. "...go on."

Tiger Claw smirked at his leader. "The new girl could be our target to victory."

Shredder raised his eyebrow beneath his helmet. "Target? Is she a great significance to those turtles?"

"Perhaps."

Shredder was slightly impressed by Tiger Claw's clever mind. The female could be in fact a perfect target to find Hamato Yoshi. But Karai was not pleased by their plan. She frowned down at Tiger Claw.

"So you're just going to harm an innocent person? You're still unsure whether she's important to them or not!"

Shredder held up his hand, cutting off his daughter. "Karai, silence." Karai stood silently and allowed her father to speak.

"This girl will become in handy. We will test it out. Capture the female on the same location she was and put her into the underground cellar. We'll see if the turtles will come rescue her."

"Father! You're really going to harm her?"

"There will be no harm. Not for now. You must understand what we have to do, child," Shredder demanded to his daughter.

He watched his daughter gradually nodding and he stood up to inform his plan to the foot soldiers. "Capture the girl starting tonight. Dismiss!"

"Yes, Master Shredder," Tiger Claw snarled, leading the foot soldiers to begin their plan.

Karai was still uncertain whether going with the plan and harming an innocent girl is right. But was it right to disobey her father's commands? She may be Shredder's daughter but she wasn't like them. Karai is...different. But she knew she wasn't the person who could save the girl. As the other soldiers left, Karai exited the building informing at least one of the turtles letting them know about the scheme.

* * *

><p>Leo's POV<p>

Leonardo continuously waited on top of the same building where he met Karai. Surprisingly, he was a bit earlier than last time. ...Well, _alot_ more early than last time. Perhaps he was so eager to meet Karai soon. The sun is still out however, setting on the horizon of the lake where he could see the Manhattan Bridge from a distance.

If only Karai was sitting next to him right now, the sight of the view would've been more stunning.

Unexpectedly, he heard the voice of the woman he was awaiting to see. "Leo!"

He rapidly turned around to face the beautiful woman. "Hey! You're pretty early."

Karai smirked. "Talk about yourself."

Leo chuckled and anxiously rubs the back of his neck. "So...what's up?"

Karai frowns, breaking off the romantic mood. "The foot soldiers saw you and your brothers with a girl."

Leo wore an expression of astonishment and bewildered. "What? When-"

"They saw you last night," cutting off Leo. "Now they're planning to find out a way to capture her."

Leo tightly clenched his fist, furious with himself. How could he let this happen? He should've known that the foot was spying on them. Now for involving the girl in their situation, he has to take responsibility for it all.

"When is that?"

"Soon," replied Karai. "Sorry, Leo but we'll continue this some other time."

Before Karai walks towards the edge of the building to exit, Leo suddenly grabbed her wrist stopping her from leaving.

"Karai. Why are you telling me this?"

Karai glanced at him. "I'm not helping you. I don't think it's right to capture someone over a stupid reason. Don't get me wrong, Leo. I'm still your enemy."

"You know we're more than that now."

Karai didn't respond after that. She pulled her hand back from Leo and leaped down from the building, leaving Leo with no reply.

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

The sky instantly became dark as the moon lite up the starry night sky. The weather always gets a bit chilly on summer nights so Jocelyn keeps the windows closed. She doesn't want to curl up into a ball in her blanket even thought it was slightly comfortable for her. Jocelyn didn't remember if she had homework or not-since she was all focused in learning about the turtles instead of the lesson, so she decided to brush off the education for a little awhile and listen to _This Is What It Feels Like by BANKS_ in her iPod.

After all, school is ending on Monday-who ends school on Mondays? So stupid. And they've already done their finals. Jocelyn barely passed them but whatever. So there was no point in worrying about her homework.

Before she started playing her music, she heard a knock on her door and pulled out her headphones. She knew who was behind the door. Peter would never knock on her door and instead barges through her room without permission. "Yeah, Auntie?"

Darcy opened the door to check in her niece. "Hon'? You took your rest?"

"I did. No worries."

Darcy nodded her head. "Good." She placed Jocelyn's iPhone on her desk.

"...Really?" She watched her Aunt forming a smile on her face and nodding. Jocelyn was speechless. "...Why? Are you alright, Auntie?"

Darcy laughed at her niece. "I am. I suppose I was being harsh on you a few nights ago."

Jocelyn grinned. She couldn't believe Darcy was finally giving her phone back! "Thanks, Auntie!"

"Dinner is on the table if you're hungry. Just remember to sleep more early from now on."

Jocelyn nodded happily. "Gotcha. I'll keep that in mind."

Watching Darcy smiling and closing her door shut, Jocelyn glanced at her iPhone to see if she got any messages. She saw 4 missed calls from her friend Hayley.

_'Guess it's for the party...'_ she thought to herself.

Before she could call back her friend, Jocelyn heard a tapping noise coming from her window.

Looking out her window from a distance, her eyes enlarged sighting the blue masked turtle. She unintentionally flushed after reminding herself of the imagination she had a few hours ago. But she remained wearing an infuriated look, glaring back at the turtle. Because of this damn turtle, she lost the competition of her life! And is he really going to visit her every day now?

Leo pointed upwards to meet him up on the rooftop. He frowned when he watched the girl shaking her head and crossing her arms, forming a 'X' in disagreement. He decided not to argue with her and pointed towards the roof again and disappears.

Honestly, what a pain in the neck.

Grabbing and wearing her baggy gray sweater, she headed to the rooftop to sight the turtle waiting for her. Leo glanced back at the girl, sighting the bandages all around her body but decided not to talk about it. She felt the chilly windy air blowing towards her face, remaining a frown on her face as she spoke to the turtle. "Why're so impatient?"

Leo sighed in aggravation. "Now's not the time to start the argument."

Jocelyn's frown deepened. "Excuse me?"

"Just listen, alright?" She decided not to fight with him by the tone of his worried voice and listened to him. "...Look, you can't go out tonight."

"_Well_ you're a bit late for that. I have to head over to my friend's party in a few."

"_Well_ this is more important than that party of yours," he informed, watched the girl still wore the frown on her face. Obviously she'll be displeased of his explanation. "You're... probably in danger."

Jocelyn stood before the turtle, stunned. Danger? How?

She glared at Leo. "What did you do?"

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "We...kind of got caught seeing each other the other night...and the people who saw us...are not good people." Leo didn't have the confidence to explain the whole story to her yet. Not now.

"...You mean the 'annoying bad' or' really really bad' people?"

"Really really bad people."

"_Christ_," she shook her messy hair in frustration. "Why did this happen to me?"

Leo headed towards the edge of the building. "Ignore that for now. Just stay inside and keep every single window and doors locked and closed." He leaped on the next building heading towards somewhere else.

So, what? Was she going to explain this nonsense to her Aunt and Peter about this chaos? What a joke! Who would believe her? Honestly, what the hell is happening right now?

"Wait!" she watched the turtle halted to look back at her with his glowing blue eyes. Those blue eyes. They were really haunting her. She shook her head attempting to shake the imagination off her head. "Where are you going?"

"I'll inform the others. Don't worry. We've done rescuing people a couple of times."

"So, you're not gonna leave me alone even though I acted like a bitch to you?"

That caught Leo's attention. He watched her face soften by the frown on her face. It wasn't entirely her fault that lead to their argument.

Leo gave a genuine smile. "I'm not going to leave you."

Jocelyn's eyes widened after what he said to her that he wasn't going to leave her-she'll keep those words in mind. She didn't want her loved ones to leave her again. She didn't want _him_ to leave her. But why him? And why did he all of a sudden become so sincere to the girl? She didn't know why. But she finally understood that the turtle is...nice. Maybe Jocelyn was too harsh on him. Maybe she really is the bad person here.

Maybe that's why people left her alone.

Jocelyn watched the blue masked turtle jumping off the rooftop and landed on the ground. Before Leo lifted the manhole cover, she stopped him again. "Wait. What if you're too late?"

"Then scream."

Jocelyn wore a puzzled look. "So...act as a damsel in distress?"

"Exactly."

And with that, Leo disappeared into the sewers, heading towards the lair, leaving the girl forming the frown again.

"Wonderful," she said with a sarcastic tone.

Shivering, she headed inside the building and did what she was instructed to do by the turtle. Ignoring Darcy asking why she's locking all the windows and doors, Jocelyn quickly went into her room and decided to call her friend Hayley to cancel the invitation to her party.

Her life is a wreck now.

* * *

><p>"They what?!"<p>

Leo wished his brother Raph wouldn't be so loud. Leo gathered his brothers including Master Splinter about the Foot Clan's scheme, telling them he coincidentally spotted the soldiers creating a plan to capture the girl. He couldn't say that Karai told him about it. Who knows what Splinter will react if he knew about Karai. "We don't have time, you guys. We need to save her now."

"And why do we need to?"

"Because she's Leo's GIRLFRIEND! Haha!" Mikey laughed while seeing his brother grunting in annoyance.

"You shouldn't worry about it too much, Raph," Donnie stated. "April said so herself that she could be trusted. Plus, she's an innocent human being. We can't just abandon her."

Raph huffed in irritation. "I don't like this. It's a trap."

Splinter kept his stern expression in his face and glances down at his second eldest son. "It is a trap indeed, Raphael. However, if the girl managed to survive and escape after you left her, what will be your other options?"

"Sensei..."

"You must keep your identities hidden at all cost. If the girl wishes not to keep us a secret, she will learn the consequences. Am I clear, Raphael."

Raphael understood his father and bowed down. Hopefully their situation wouldn't worsen until this is all over. "...Hai, Sensei."

Master Splinter nodded and looks back to his other sons. "Now, my sons. Go and protect the girl and her family from any danger that will harm them."

"Hai, Sensei!" they all said in unison.

And they were off through the sewers, heading towards the place where the girl's apartment building is. Once his sons were all gone, Splinter gradually closed his eyes, tightly grasping his cane and silently praying for his children, wearing a worried expression. He had a terrible feeling at the pit of his stomach.

"Be safe, my sons."

Splinter continues to stand in the middle of the lair, waiting for his sons to come back safely.

* * *

><p>[Are you sure you're not coming?]<p>

Obviously, Hayley sounded disappointed on the other line. Jocelyn can feel the guilt overflowing inside her gut. She had to miss out her best friend's birthday party reminding herself about the conflicts she's going through right now. And the turtle was right. This wouldn't be a great time to go to a party if her life was in danger.

Still, she could've secretly gone...if she had a death wish. And Jocelyn doesn't want to take any risks.

"Sorry, Hayley," she apologizes while rubbing her eye patch. "After the competition today, I'm really getting a massive headache."

Jocelyn heard her friend sighing on the other line. [Alright, girl. I understand. It's a pity 'cause the guy I was about to hook you up with is still waiting for you.]

Jocelyn sighed in disappointment. She really was looking forward to that party. Jocelyn might've been interested in the guy, but now...she wasn't so sure. "Tell him I said sorry."

[No probs. Feel better, 'kay?]

"Okay."

[clicks]

Jocelyn jumped onto her chair, grabbed her pillow and screamed against it in frustration. The guilt spread inside of her making her feel worse. She had to miss her best friend's birthday party. But most of all, she had to_ lie_ to her best friend! And she never lies to her best friend! Never!

Jocelyn began to hit herself with the pillow, telling herself she's a complete idiot and a terrible person. She also slapped herself a couple of times but groans in pain remembering that her injuries were there making the pain on her face worsen. She should have not done that.

After a few minutes of calming herself down, she waited for the turtles to arrive. She glances at her clock reading that it's now 10:44pm. Where were they? Were they even coming at all? Jocelyn wasn't even so sure if they were really coming to get her. That's when she questions herself. Was her life really not in danger and the turtles decided to prank her making her panic for no reason at all because she recorded a video of them? Or her life was in danger but they decided not to care for her and left her alone? Even though the blue turtle told her he wouldn't leave her, she wasn't sure if he really meant it.

God, what has she done to deserve this kind of life?

Unexpectedly, she felt moisture on her cheek. Jocelyn didn't realize she was crying. Quickly wiping the tear from her face, she wished the turtles will come any time soon.

Hearing a tapping sound from her window, Jocelyn whipped her head up in relief. They finally came! Walking towards her window, she halted herself from going any further. Her eyes bulged out sighting a small device sticking onto her window and its red light blinking.

It wasn't them.

"Shit!"

Before she couldn't run away, the little bomb device exploded and blowing down her wall, stones and shattered glass colliding flying everywhere and one of the stones hitting her head causing her to collapse on the floor. Her vision was blurry, only sighting a couple of people wearing black suits from head-to-toe.

Peter rose from his bed hearing the explosion. "Momma!"

Darcy rapidly barges into his room. "Stay there, sweety!" she told him while running towards the sound of the explosion. It came from Jocelyn's room. Darcy cursed herself, knowing what was wrong with her niece when she watched her locking all the doors and windows around the rooms.

Darcy flew the bedroom door open and spots several mysterious people in black suits; one of them carrying her unconscious niece. She was bleeding from her forehead and streaming down to her chin.

"LET GO OF HER!"

The shout of her aunt made Jocelyn regain consciousness and slowly opened her slits. "Auntie..."

Peter appeared in the background. "Sis!"

Suddenly, one of the foot soldiers charges at Darcy. Darcy didn't see it coming when the ninja attacked her aunt, making her flew to the wall.

Peter ran beside his mother, wailing. "Momma! Sis!" The little boy didn't knew what to do. He couldn't help anybody. He was helpless.

Jocelyn felt herself being carried away by the foot ninjas. She looked over at her unconscious aunt speechless. She watched Darcy gradually collapsing on the ground, her blood trickling down her face. She saw it all, witnessing her aunt lying on the floor surrounded by the pool of her blood.

Then, she screamed.

Hearing the explosion and a bloody scream from a distance, the turtles glance towards to the direction where the sounds came from.

They were too late.

-End of Chapter 4

* * *

><p><strong>~~~AN: See you all soon! BE WARNED, the next chapter can get a bit nasty...(well, not really...unless you're use to it.) For now, here are the sneak peeks of the next chapter:**

_"Well, I'm the leader of this team so you have to follow my orders!"_

_"It feels like I don't have a family..."_

_"I don't think she's even breathing."_

_"Is sis going to be okay?"_

_~xpetunia~_


	7. Chapter 5: Repentance (1)

**~~~Author's Notes: **

**Work Work Work EVERYWHERE. School is almost over so we're doing our finals. So much stress you have no idea. Anyways, here's the next chapter! BE WARNED, might be a bit rough...I will reveal some of Jocelyn's and Darcy's past. First part reveals Darcy's. Second part is Jocelyn's. **

**In the previous chapter...**

_**Jocelyn met up with Leonardo and got mad at him for making her lose the tournament and for being impatient about the video. Leaving the video situation aside, Leo warned her about the Foot Clan targeting her. Meanwhile, Leonardo told the news to his brothers and Master Splinter. They headed to the surface again to protect the girl until they were too late when the foot ninjas already invaded her apartment and captured Jocelyn...**_

**Read&Review 'cause I'd love to hear your comments about the story so far. So, Enjoy! :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: Repentance<strong>

_Six years ago_

_._

_._

_._

_"Just do this favor, will ya Darcy? We don't have much time," said the man in a hurried tone._

_The 36 year-old woman glared back at her brother in response. Jocelyn's parents sat on the sofa in Darcy's living room facing the woman who wore a furious look plastered on her face. Obviously, Darcy wasn't proud of hearing the news from her brother and sister-in-law._

_"And you're going on a trip without Jocelyn?" asked Darcy raising her voice at the two adults._

_Jocelyn's mother glances Darcy with pleading eyes. "Please, Darcy. This is very important for my child. Ella is soon going to be an actor! And she needs us to come with her!"_

_However, Darcy was still displeased, glowering at the mother. "And Jocelyn isn't important to you at all?"_

_The mother frowned. "Look, here-"_

_"Anna," the father held up his hand cutting her off. He glances at his wife shaking his head while she stayed silent._

_The father looked back at Darcy still remaining the displeased look. "Sister, just do this favor for us."_

_"George, this isn't right. You're abandoning your own child!" shouted Darcy, watching her brother sighing in aggravation._

_"You wouldn't understand, Darcy," George stated. "I can't also abandon Ella. This is a huge opportunity for her. And we need to go to L.A. to support her."_

_"Why can't one of you just go with her?"_

_"She needs us _both_, Darcy," he said in a pleading voice. "We'll be back to pick up Jocelyn in a few days. Promise."_

_Darcy still didn't understand their situation. But she eventually nodded at the two couple. "...fine."_

_"Good," George said, forming a smile onto his face. "Plus, I'm doing this for you too. Since you've always wanted a child."_

_Darcy remained silent afterwards. Why? Why would they just leave Jocelyn alone again? Just to go on a trip with the other child? Bullshit. Darcy knew how Jocelyn feels when her parents are away. Most of the time she calls Darcy when her parents ordered her to stay inside the house. That's when Darcy understood about Jocelyn. She's cold. Distant. Isolated from her family._

_Darcy can relate Jocelyn as herself. Darcy was 27 years-old then. She was left behind by her lover before discovering that she had menopause. But she still delivered the baby. Whether the man betrayed or not, the baby doesn't deserve to die. She'll give all the love to her child without the father. Until a few months later, she was gone. Gone. By a stupid car accident._

_She was a fool. It was the big mistake she ever had. And it was all her fault._

_No one was there to help her._

_She was lonely._

_Scared._

_Isolated._

_Just like her niece._

_._

_._

_._

_A few weeks passed and there was no sign of Jocelyn's parents. They never showed up. That was no surprise._

_Darcy opened the door leading where the room Jocelyn is sleeping in during the past weeks. The 11 year-old girl sat on the large bed glancing out the window. She was most likely still waiting for her parents to pick her up._

_Her face was expressionless. Her light brown orbs looked dead with no color. She watched the droplets of raindrops gradually streaming down from the other side of the window._

_"Jocelyn, hon'. What do you want for dinner?" Darcy asked glancing at the young girl._

_However, Darcy didn't receive a reply from her niece. Only the sound of thunder echoing the whole building._

_"I'm going to make macaroni n cheese, alright?" Before she slowly closes the door, Jocelyn mumbled something that Darcy could almost hear._

_"Are they going to come soon?"_

_Darcy wore a confused face. "What?"_

_Jocelyn stayed silent for a few seconds. She slowly traced the droplets of water out the window. Her voice suddenly became clear._

_"It's empty. My heart. It feels like I don't have a family..."_

_Darcy's frowned, upset by how she couldn't help with her niece's problem. She knew she couldn't fill her heart with love and kindness._

_"...Come out quickly when the food is ready."_

_It was all she could say._

_And with that Darcy closed the door while her niece continued staring out the window._

_But all this time, Jocelyn was looking at her own reflection telling herself what was wrong with her. Her face instantly changed into full of hatred. Maybe the reason she was abandoned is the girl. The girl who is staring back at her; her reflection. Her existence._

_She learned that she hated herself._

_._

_._

_._

_Darcy turned off the stove after finishing cooking the macaroni n cheese. She headed towards the bedroom where she last saw her niece. "Jocelyn! Food's ready!"_

_Once she opened the door to the bedroom, there was no sight of the girl._

_"...Jocelyn?"_

_Darcy heard the water running from the bathroom. Heading towards the bathroom, she politely knocks on the door._

_"Jocelyn. The food is ready so come out and eat, okay?"_

_There was no response._

_"Jocelyn? Are you there, hon'?"_

_Darcy grabbed the doorknob to open the door but the it was obviously locked from the other side. She continued to knock a couple of times until she gets an answer._

_However, there was no response at all. Only the sound of the water still running._

_Darcy's eyes widened._

_Oh no._

_Darcy began to panic. Why isn't she answering? She bangs roughly on the door a couple of times after a flood of water went through the door to her bare toes._

_"Jocelyn!" Darcy exclaimed while twisting the doorknob frantically. "Jocelyn, hang on, okay?!"_

_Darcy went into the kitchen to grab a screwdriver. Once she came back to the locked bathroom door, she rapidly inserted the screwdriver into the hole of the doorknob and twisted the lock to unlock the door. She threw aside the tool and barged through the bathroom, the room was already flooded. She spotted her niece laying down, lifeless on the flooded bathtub. Her left wrist was cut open with a couple of bloody slits. Her blood mixed with the clear water that flooded the whole room. On her other hand she held a broken bloody glass that she grabbed a piece from the broken mirror._

_"Jocelyn!" Darcy quickly turns off the running water from the bathtub and kneel to grab her niece out of the bathtub._

_Darcy held her with a tight embrace, making her warm after feeling her cold lifeless body. Darcy started to shiver feeling the cold body around her arms and feeling the cold water on her knees that flooded around the room._

_Jocelyn regained consciousness. "Auntie...I'm sor-"_

_Darcy tighten the embrace and started to sob against her niece's damp hair. "No, sweet heart...don't apologize..."_

_Darcy couldn't protect her. She couldn't make her happy. She's a failure._

_"Auntie...are you going to leave me?"_

_Darcy sniffled and held her close. "I won't, hon'. I won't. I'm here now. I will never leave you."_

_Jocelyn eyes began to water, tears streaming down her cold pale face. Finally, she was able to cry all these years. Letting the burning tears fall down as she felt her heart shattering to pieces._

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise."_

_The 11 year-old held out her pinky to her. "...Pinky Promise?"_

_Darcy smiled, wrapped her pinky around hers. "Pinky Promise."_

_Finally, there was a person who wouldn't leave her. She's not alone. Jocelyn wrapped her arms around the woman's body to tighten the embrace and cried against her shoulder._

_Darcy promised herself that she would protect her beloved child._

_She won't leave her alone._

_And she kept her word._

.

.

.

"Momma!"

That sounded like Peter's voice.

Darcy groans a little as she gradually open her two eyelids. She sighted her adopted son sitting beside her and Bubba frightened; by the explosion, curled up in the corner of the room. She still can feel her dry blood surrounding her body.

"Peter...you're safe...!" Darcy said forming a smile until realizing that her niece was gone. "Jocelyn! Jocelyn's missing!"

Darcy attempted to get up from her spot until she felt the wound on her stomach. She winced in pain as she leaned further to the wall trying not to worsen the wound.

She saw her adopted son settling her back down. "Momma, don't worry! They're going to save her!"

'They'? Darcy looked a little surprised. "Sweetie...you called the police yourself?"

Peter shook his head. "Not the po-po," he said grinning happily. "The turtles!"

Darcy wore a confused expression. "The tur-"

Suddenly, she cut her sentence off after sighting four large silhouettes behind Peter. Her vision became clear as the figures slowly approached closer to the woman and the child. The four figures wore multi-colored bandanas with different weapons for each. It was four giant turtles.

The purple masked turtle held his hands in defense. "Miss, before you scream, we-"

The woman shrieked in fear, cutting off Donnie's sentence.

Raphael shook his head at his brother. "A bit late there, Don'." Raph received a frown from Donnie.

Darcy quickly hugged her son protectively. "Peter! Stay back!"

"Don't worry, Momma! They're good!" he exclaimed trying to calm his mother down.

"Where's the police?!"

Raph pulled out his weapons. "Call the police or I'll-!"

"Raph! Calm down," warned the blue turtle, planted his hand on his brother's shoulder. He watched his brother slumping his shoulders, putting his sais in its case and brushed Leo's hand off him. Leo glances back at the frightened woman holding the child. "Miss, please. Don't call the police. We got it all under control."

Mikey approached to the woman closely blocking her view while she gasped in fear. "Mainly 'cause we keep ourselves a secret." said the orange masked turtle while being pulled away by Leo, giving the woman some space.

Darcy remembered the time when Peter drew the picture of the four turtles. She reminded herself that Peter also said that he saw them last night. It wasn't his imagination at all. They were actually real!

The woman took a couple of breaths, calming herself down. "T-They took Jocelyn...my niece..."

"We know," stated Leo, wearing the stern look on his face. "Stay put. We're bringing her back."

"What're they going to do with her?!" shouted Darcy.

"Relax, lady," said Raph. "She'll be fine...hopefully."

Darcy continued to panic. 'Hopefully'? Jocelyn's all alone, crying in agony for help while being captured by unknown strangers! How could she be fine?! What if they do something harmful to her? What will happen to her beloved child?

The woman sobbed beneath her hands, worrying about her niece if they'll harm her. All four turtles flinched at the sight of the woman crying. Her adopted son patted her back for comfort with teary eyes, also worried about his dear cousin.

"Momma..."

Suddenly, Darcy felt a large hand on her shoulder. She jolted in shock when the hand belonged to one of the turtles.

"No need to worry, ma'am," stated Leo with determination on his face. "She'll be safe once we bring her back. You can trust us."

After receiving a reassuring smile from the blue masked turtle, eventually, Darcy slowly nodded, trusting the turtles to bring her niece back safely. "...Okay."

"They're going to the Headquarters, right?" asking Raph while glancing at Donnie looking out at the huge gap of the crumbled wall.

"Most likely. They headed northwest from here."

"Then let's go, team!" Leo shouted to his brothers, heading out through the gap.

Mikey patted the little boy's head, weeping beside his mother. "Protect your mom, 'kay kiddo?"

Peter's response was just a little nod as he watched the orange masked turtle heading outside with his brothers.

Before they left, Darcy called out to them. "Wait!" Darcy hesitated to answer when the four turtles glances back at the woman. "...what are you guys exactly?"

"They're Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Momma!" interrupted Peter.

Donnie gave a toothy smile at the kid. "I suppose you could call us that."

"Let's just say we're like...heroes," stated Leo wearing a gentle smile.

"The Best Heroes in the CITY~!" exclaimed Mikey following his brothers leaping out the building. "BOOYAKASHA!"

The woman and the little boy watch the four giant turtles went off and headed towards the Foot's Base.

"Momma?"

Darcy looks back at Peter. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Is Sis going to be okay?"

Darcy was unsure if she really is okay. All Darcy could do is to rely on the turtles to bring her back safe and sound.

"...She will, hon'. She will."

* * *

><p>Deep beneath the Foot's headquarters was their dungeon. A couple of foot soldiers surrounded that one underground cellar that the young female is trapped inside. The stone walls automatically opens as the Shredder enters into the cellar. He spotted the unconscious girl chained up against the wall with fresh bloody cuts on each of her limbs.<p>

Anger filled inside him when he spotted the foot soldier holding a whip beside Tiger Claw. Karai stood hidden behind the other foot soldiers wearing a shocked expression.

Tiger Claw bowed before Shredder when his master slowly approached him. "Master Shredder, I-"

"FOOL!" Shredder cutting off Tiger Claw, watching him flinched. "I simply ordered you not to harm her!"

"My apologies, Master Shredder! But we're trying to get some answers."

Shredder narrowed his eyes at Tiger Claw. "...What for?"

"If she knew where the turtles are hiding."

Karai's eyes enlarged after hearing Tiger Claw's response to her father. Is her father really accepting this just to threaten the girl to reveal some simple answers? But when did Karai began to have doubts on her father? Why all of a sudden was she against the foot's scheme? She didn't know what to do.

All she could do is stand hidden behind the soldiers and watch.

Shredder glances at the unconscious girl. "...Did she speak?"

Tiger Claw shook his head in response. "Not a single word."

"Then stop what you're doing," Shredder approached towards the one of the foot soldiers gripping onto the whip. The other ninjas behind him made space for Shredder walking towards the female chained up on the wall. "She will not speak if you harm her. But if she disobeys, I will order you to continue whipping her."

The foot soldier simply nodded at Shredder's order and slowly stepping back away from Shredder giving him space.

Shredder looked closely at the girl. Taking one more step towards her, her eye lids gradually opened sensing someone's presence standing close to her. She shot a glare at the sight of Shredder; the man was covered in blades from head-to-toe, knowing by his appearance that he's the leader of the Clan.

"What is your name, human?"

Jocelyn stayed silent, uninterested in chatting with the man behind the helmet.

Shredder narrowed his eyes. "What is your relationship with the turtles?"

Still no response from the girl.

"You're losing my patience. If you wish not to speak, your family will be the next victims."

Jocelyn's eyes widened in shock. No, he wouldn't...

"Answer the questions," demanded Shredder, expecting at least a word from the chained up girl.

"None," she said. "I have no relationship with them."

Shredder raised his eyebrow behind his helmet. "Is that so? What was the reason they were talking to you?"

Jocelyn stayed silent, while Shredder knew that the girl lied.

"Where are they hiding?"

His voice was more demanding and threatening. Jocelyn remembered what the orange masked turtle had said when they lived in the sewers with a giant rat. She couldn't remember the whole thing of what he said but she knew where they were hiding.

But why was the dangerous man so eager to know? Did the turtles do something terrible? Jocelyn didn't knew why but she decided to keep her mouth shut about it.

Jocelyn hesitated to speak. "...I don't know."

"You know and you _will_ tell me."

Before Shredder received another response from the girl, a random foot soldier stepped in to speak with him. "Master Shredder. It's been an hour since they have not arrived."

Jocelyn's eyes enlarged. No, she couldn't believe it. Did they really leave her like this?

"Oh? So they really don't care about this human after all," replied Shredder looking back at Jocelyn. "What a pity."

Jocelyn shook her head, her tears streaming down to her cheeks. No. It's not true. She didn't believe it. The blue masked turtle said so himself that he wouldn't leave her alone.

"...he promised."

Shredder wore a confused look after hearing the girl speak. "What?"

Jocelyn started to sob. "He said...he wouldn't leave me."

Shredder eyes widened. "So you DO know about the turtles!"

Jocelyn trembled in fear as Shredder pulls out his claws. "Who said that?!"

Suddenly, she remembered his name. "Leo."

Hearing the name of the turtle caught Karai's attention. Did he really promise her that?

Shredder pulled out his claws close to the frightened girl. "Where are they?! Where's Hamato Yoshi?!"

"I...I don't know..."

"Foolish girl!" Before he could raise his claws to slash the girl's stomach, a sudden bomb was heard from a distance, shaking the building.

Shredder looked at two random foot soldiers and a giant horrifying looking dog quickly entering the cellar. "They arrived!" shouted Rahzar.

Shredder pointed at the girl while looking at the three soldiers behind him. "Whip her until she answers the question! The rest of you, head to those turtles! Don't let them get to the girl!"

All foot soldiers understood Shredder's command and bowed before him. "Yes, sir!" they said in unison before heading towards the direction of where the turtles are attacking.

Shredder walks out of the deep cellar while the walls automatically shut closed, hearing a bloody scream in the cellar from a distance.

Karai quickly approached her father. "Father! You said you weren't going to harm her!"

"Silence, Karai!" demanded Shredder glaring down at the child. "Are you on our side or not?!"

His sudden yell echoed the room that made Karai wore a shocked look on her face. Of course she was on her father's side! She would never betray her father! Karai just thought that harming the girl wasn't the right decision to make the girl answer his questions. However, she shouldn't underestimate Shredder's orders.

"...I'm sorry, Father," Karai said.

"You must understand what we have to do. Am I clear?"

Karai slowly nodded. "Yes. I understand."

Karai watches her father walking away. She headed towards the direction where the turtles are attacking. She needed at least to warn one of the turtles where the girl is. Karai may be Shredder's daughter but she was not like him.

* * *

><p>After defeating several foot ninjas, the four turtles dashed towards the direction of the dungeon. It was clear that the young female is trapped there. Sighting more foot soldiers coming towards them, the four turtles continued sprinting while increasing their speed and attacking them.<p>

All unconscious foot ninjas collapsed on the ground in defeat as the turtles continue their way to save the girl.

Mikey huffed in exhaustion, loosening his grip on his nun-chucks. "Is...that...all of them...?"

Donnie was also out of breath, wiping the beads of sweat dripping down his face. "Not yet, Mikey...not yet."

Raph still kept his deep frown. "I can't believe we're doing this to rescue some damsel."

"You heard what Master Splinter said, Raph. We need to save her," stated Leo keeping the determination plastered on his face but suddenly changed into worry while goes into a deep thought, repeating the words he said to the girl.

_'I'm not going to leave you.'_

"She's relying on me to save her."

Raph still disagrees with this idiotic plan. "Oh, yeah sure. Let's go act like heroes and get our asses kicked by a bunch of foot ninjas..." he said in a sarcastic tone while going up to Leo's face. "FOR A DAMSEL."

Annoyed, Leo shoved his brother away from him. "Enough, Raph! What's your problem?!"

"My problem is that this whole rescuing thing is stupid! I know what Master Splinter said but going through all of this is nuts! I'm trying to protect my family! If I was leader, we wouldn't even be doing this crap!"

Leo narrowed his eye lids. "Well, I'm the leader of this team so you have to follow my orders!"

"I'm not following any orders from a leader who keeps hanging out with his whore."

Leo snapped. That's it. He crossed the line. "Alright, Raph. If you want to fight, bring it."

While Leo dangerously walks towards his brother, Raph glared back at him and cracked his knuckles. "You just made my day."

Before they begin their nasty battle, Donnie and Mikey broke them apart and quickly grabbed hold on their brothers, attempting to stop the fight.

Donnie held tight on Leo's arms. "Guys! Stop it! This isn't the right time for that!"

Mikey held Raph's waist, trying to calm him down. "Yeah, man! Chill!"

Leo struggles to let Donnie release his arms. "Let go, Donnie! Karai is _not_ a whore!"

Raph smirked at him menacingly. "You want me to say more about her? 'Cause I'd love to."

"I'll tear that mouth of yours before you do!"

"Ha! I'll rip yours too so you'd shut up for once!"

Donnie and Mikey were struggling to hold their brothers back from fighting back Donnie and Mikey felt their feet getting dragged while the two raging brothers were close in starting their brawl.

Mikey tightly grabbed hold on Raph's waist. "Please, guys! Stop! This isn't cool, man!"

"Leo!"

Thankfully, a familiar voice stopped the two angry brothers from strangling each other's throats. The skinny figure ran towards the four turtles. It was Karai.

"Karai!" exclaimed Leo.

Raph frowned at the sight of the female ninja. "Look who decided to show up."

Leo ignored his brother when Karai spoke up. "The girl is in a deep underground cellar towards that way," Karai informed pointing over to a giant dark corridor up ahead. "Getting her from the cellar will be a problem. The cellar only automatically opens if you're one of us. You have to go through the vents to get there."

Leo nodded. "Thanks!" He rapidly headed towards the corridor with his brothers.

"Like I said, I'm not doing this for you!" the female ninja smirked at Leo before going to an opposite direction, making sure the other foot ninjas didn't witness her helping them.

Raph frowned as Karai disappeared. "Hold up! So, we're actually listening to the chick?"

Leo growled at Raph still pissed of what he said about Karai. "I had enough of you complaining for today, Raph! Now let's go!"

Raph grunted in aggravation and decided to follow his brothers into the deep corridor. Once they were halfway there, a sudden loud reverberating noise echoed the dark corridor. The whole corridor rumbled and shook, causing the turtles to lose their balance. The turtles didn't notice that a giant wall began to drop between the turtles, almost landing on the leader.

"Leo! Watch out!" yelled Donnie.

Thankfully, Donnie pushed Leo quickly moving him away from his spot with his long Bo-staff as the giant wall landed on the ground. The landing echoed throughout the corridor, might've attracted more foot soldiers. No turtle was crushed. However, Leonardo was separated from his brothers on the other side of the giant wall.

"Leo!" Raph shouted in a worried tone.

"Leo, my bro!" Mikey yelled to the other side, standing beside Raph. "Speak to me!"

Leo grunted in pain, lifting himself up from the floor. "Yeah, I'm okay!"

Raph sighed in relief. Thank goodness he didn't lose his brother. Suddenly his worry turned in anger. If it wasn't for Karai, they wouldn't be separated in the first place. "Dammit! We shouldn't have listened to Karai!"

His brothers attempted to break the giant wall with their weapons. There was no luck. "Leo! We can't break it down! It's hard as steel!" shouted Donnie from the other side of the wall.

Leo swung his katanas and kicks the wall a couple of times. The steel wall seems to be unbreakable. "Neither can I! New plan, guys! Raph! Lead Donnie and Mikey back to the exit and leave! I'll meet you guys after I save her!"

Raph was dumbfounded. "What?! Leo, I'm not leaving you behind! We stick and fight together as a family!"

"Can you just follow my orders at least once?!"

"No! I won't! Your orders are completely stupid!"

"Just do it, Raph! I'm counting on you!"

Donnie look at the wall in disbelief. He also had a bad feeling about Leo's orders. "Leo-!"

"GO! NOW!" Leo cut off Donnie as he runs deeper into the corridor.

"Leo!" Raph yelled before slamming his fists on the wall in rage. "Dammit!"

Mikey wore a frightened look while glancing back behind his brothers. "Uh...dudes? I think we need to worry about Leo later..."

Raph and Donnie turn around and spotted a bunch of foot soldiers with Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface.

"We meet again, turtles," snarled Tiger Claw.

"It seems one of them is missing," stated Fishface.

Rahzar growled. "At least we get to have fun beating the turtles."

Raph pulled out his sais, wearing a mischievous smirk on his face. "Oh, don't worry. The ones who will get the beating is you." Donnie and Mikey follows Raph, also pulling out their weapons preparing their attack.

Tension began to rise between the foot and the turtles. A dark aura surrounds them, waiting patiently for their enemies making the first move.

Tiger Claw growled. "Slaughter the turtles!"

Then everyone charged at each other.

-End of Part 1


	8. Chapter 5: Repentance (2)

**~~~A/N: CLASSES ARE OVER. WOOT WOOT! (Yes, I had classes and took my finals on Sunday. Sucks.) Anyways, moving on and enjoy the new chapter! Read&Review! I'll accept spam too! (I'm that needy for reviews. x'D)**

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

Leonardo wore determination on his face and gripping tightly on his swords, facing the enemy.

"Shredder."

Shredder raised one of his brow. "Only one? At least I can finish you off quickly."

Shredder drew out his claws and charges at the turtle. Attempting to escape from the Shredder, Leo got blocked and received an unexpected attack from Shredder. The attack cause him to scream in pain and fall on the ground, still feeling the wound showing three large slits on his plastron. Before Shredder goes for another strike, Leo quickly dodged his attack by rolling over to the side. He swung his ninjato swords, damaging Shredder in process. Shredder grunted as Leo charged after him again.

Shredder rapidly blocked Leo's swords with his claws as the two struggles to make their attack. Suddenly, Shredder trips Leonardo, making the turtle fall to the ground. Taking his claws, Shredder plunges it into Leo's arm, watching him screeched in agony. Leo kicked Shredder off of him, pulling the claws off of his wounded arm. Leo went for another strike and again, kicked Shredder's stomach causing the leader of the foot to stumble down to the ground.

Leonardo held his injured arm, wincing at the wounded that Shredder's claws stabbed his arm deep. Leo ignored the pain and quickly flipped backwards and headed to the air vents.

"Come back, you coward!" yelled Shredder, thrusts his weapon into the air vent, stabbing Leo's leg causing Leo to grunt in pain but continued his way to escape.

He didn't have time to fight. He needed to save the girl.

Shredder slammed his fists on the air vents. "NO!"

After losing his chance to exterminate the turtle, Shredder gashed through the air vents with his claws in rage.

* * *

><p>The three foot soldiers stopped whipping the lifeless girl and glances up at her chained up to the wall.<p>

"She's not answering," said one of the foot ninjas.

"I don't think she's even breathing," stated another foot ninja.

"We should probably head to the others in battle. Put her down and chain her to the floor."

The third ninja did what he was instructed to do; chaining both her wrists to the floor and stared at the other ninja in disbelief. "So we're just going to leave her? Master Shredder ordered us to stay here."

"Master Shredder just told us to whip her 'til she answers the question. Obviously she isn't and I ain't wasting my time in whipping some kid. Let's go!"

The other ninjas nodded in agreement and followed him out of the cellar leaving the wounded girl alone.

A few minutes after the foot ninjas left the cell, Jocelyn began to regain consciousness.

She sat on the cold, hard floor. Jocelyn glanced at her two legs; the wounds cut open and dried blood trickling down. She felt her limbs numb after the foot ninjas whipped her. Jocelyn couldn't reach to touch her injured legs and both of her wrists chained behind her back. No matter how many times she attempt to pull her hand out of the chains, it's impossible to break free. She sensed her skin peeling off when she tugged on the chain.

Jocelyn's legs wiggled; struggling to stand but gave up and she collapsed on the floor.

_'It hurts.'_ Hot tears streamed down to her cheeks. What had she done to deserve this? If only she hadn't met the turtles. If only she wasn't born with a terrible family. If only this was just a dream, she'll be back in her normal life.

If only she never existed.

Yes, that would be better. Leaving all the conflicts behind and leave her here in despair. It was her punishment after all and she'll gladly accepts it.

Jocelyn lose consciousness. And everything went black.

_._

_._

_._

_The sounds of loud clapping filled the auditorium._

_"Isn't she amazing?" a woman said, taking photos of the 13 year-old girl on stage. "1st year of high school and she's on the high honor rolls list!"_

_A man beside her chortled, clapping for his daughter. "I'm so proud of her. She told me she wants to be in the drama club."_

_"Really? She'll do great! I've seen her act before!"_

_The woman felt something tugging her dress. She looked down to see her 7 year-old child sucking her thumb. "Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom."_

_The woman smacked her hand away. "Not now, Jocelyn. I need more photos of your sister."_

_The 7 year-old Jocelyn pouted and looked over to call her father. She started to whine. "Daaaaad~!"_

_It only took a few seconds to realize that his youngest daughter was calling him. "Huh? Oh, uhm yeah. Sure. In a few minutes."_

_Jocelyn pouted and slumped down her chair. By the time the ceremony ended, her parents forgot to take her to the bathroom._

_They didn't realize that she peed herself._

_._

_._

_._

_Her father was driving a red SUV, picking up his youngest daughter from school. He glanced at his mirror to look at the 8 year-old child._

_"Do you want to be an actress?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"You heard me."_

_Jocelyn played her fingers and hesitated to answer. "I'm not good at it."_

_Her father looked back at the road. "Hm." The SUV halted by a stoplight. The young child never looked at him._

_"What are the grades of your subjects?"_

_"...English B+, Math B, Sci-"_

_He made a loud sigh. "Not good. Do better next time."_

_"..."_

_"Why can you be more like your sister? She had A's in every class when she was your age."_

_"..."_

_He mumbled something that almost couldn't hear. All she heard was 'worthless' and 'embarrassment to the family.' Her tears blurred her vision._

_Jocelyn wished she never heard that._

_._

_._

_._

_"Ms. Stone."_

_A 9 year-old Jocelyn got up from her and to give in her assignment. The teacher smiled at the girl. "Thank you, Ms. Stone. By the way, I once taught your sister in your grade."_

_"...Yeah?"_

_The teacher examined her grades. "Well, from what I remembered was your sister earned higher points than you."_

_Jocelyn started to get irritated by the woman and frowned._

_"...So?"_

_The lady chuckled nervously,"Uhm...'SO', you need to keep your grades up."_

_Jocelyn decided not to respond back, so the teacher continued, "It's odd for two Stone sisters to have different grades."_

_"All people are different. That includes my family too."_

_The teacher looked stunned. She fixed her glasses and anxiously coughed. "Why, uhm yes. That is true, but since Ella is smart, aren't you supposed to be smart too? Just try to do better next time."_

_Jocelyn cringed. Did she just call her stupid? "Don't compare me with my sister. And you don't tell me what to do."_

_She didn't care if that was harsh. She hates the teacher. Jocelyn could hear her calling out her name. The teacher seemed furious. And it caused the students to stare at Jocelyn making a scene. But Jocelyn didn't cared. She hated this place. She hated everything here._

_In the end, Jocelyn served detention during recess time._

_._

_._

_._

_Jocelyn was only 12 years-old and she got into her first fight._

_It was during her sister's high school graduation. A little kid showed up, comparing her to her sister. It was unforgivable, especially when the kid called her pathetic and ugly. Those words hurt her because Jocelyn knew that it was the truth but it also irritated her causing her to punch the kid. Kickboxing came in handy. But of course she needed more practice. Afterwards, Jocelyn had a few scratches but the stupid kid was sent to the hospital. His teeth were fractured. Good. The kid deserved it. And Jocelyn didn't regret it._

_But now, her parents were facing her. And they were furious._

_"What were you THINKING?!" her mother shouted. "And during your sister's graduation!"_

_Her father was right beside her mother. "I knew you were a troublemaker, Missy. And don't do that again. Where'd you learned those moves, huh?! You're not allowed to fight again, got it?!"_

_Her mother glanced at Jocelyn's left wrist wrapped up in a bandage. She forcefully grasped her wrist while Jocelyn yelped in pain. "And what's this?!"_

_Jocelyn pulled back her wrist away from her mother. "Nothing!"_

_Her mother's eyes enlarged. "Oh my, I can't believe this! Jocelyn, are you serious?!"_

_"I said it's nothing!"_

_Ella planted her hands on her parents shoulders, calming them down. "Father, Mother. Please, don't be mad at my dear sister. I'm sure there's an explanation for this."_

_Jocelyn had enough of this. She wanted to end it. "YOU can just shut it and mind your own business!" She didn't care if that was harsh. Jocelyn didn't need anyone's help from this family. She can defend herself._

_Ella looked shocked and hurt. Her mother pulled Ella towards her. "Do not shout at your sister!" shouted her mother, patted Ella's back for comfort. Jocelyn didn't notice that her father ran upstairs._

_Jocelyn snapped. "Why? Why is it always her? Is it because she's pretty? More clever than me? A better child to you? You guys never appreciate what I've done for you that are good! And it's still always 'Ella, Ella, Ella'!"_

_Her mother shuts her mouth, feeling a bit of guilt in her gut. Ella approached her little sister. "Dear sister..."_

_Jocelyn forcefully shoved her away. "Don't ever call me your sister! This is all YOUR fault! If only you weren't part of this family, if only you never existed, I-!"_

_She felted her head swung to the side and her cheek burned. Her fingertips were trembling when she touched her cheek. Jocelyn stared at her mother who just slapped her._

_Overhearing the scene, her father slammed the bedroom door. He walked down the stairs and dropped the suitcase next to Jocelyn._

_"Leave."_

_Ella and Jocelyn looked at their father in shock. 'They're...kicking me out?' Was this really happening to her? Ella fell down to the floor and begged, "Please, father. Don't do this to my sister! Please!"_

_Jocelyn stared at her parents in disbelief. Was it really that terrible of what she did? Of what she said? Was she really the bad person in this family? She didn't know. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to leave. Not now._

_She whispers in a raspy voice, holding in the tears beneath her eyes. "No, Mom...Dad...Please don't make me leave...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."_

_Her parents could no longer look down at the sight of the child while Ella just stood there sobbing beneath her hands. Jocelyn felt like a complete outcast. Isolated and abandoned by her own family._

_Then she obeyed, and left the house._

_Grabbing her suitcase, she sprinted outside in the cold, wet rain. Ignoring that her clothes were completely soaked through, she continued to run further away from the house. Jocelyn can even hear her sister calling out her name, following her outside._

_Jocelyn never looked back._

_._

_._

_._

_[click]_

_[...Hello?]_

_The shivering girl was inside a phone booth, soaked by the pouring rain. "Hi, Aunt Darcy."_

_[My, my. Jocelyn, is that you?]_

_"...Yeah. It's me."_

_Jocelyn heard her chuckling in the other line. [I haven't heard you in a while. How's everything?]_

_Jocelyn bit her lip, attempted to sound cheerful. "I-I'm doing good...great! Fantastic!"_

_[Good, good. How about your family?]_

_Don't cry._

_"U-Uh... they're doing great... as always..."_

_[...Jocelyn. Is there something wrong?]_

_"Nothing's wrong..." She flinched when she heard a loud thunder coming from outside the phone booth._

_Don't cry._

_[Jocelyn, what's happening? Why do I hear thunder?]_

_Please don't cry._

_Her hands trembled against the phone. Tears formed her eyes, pouring down her cheeks._

_"A-Auntie..."_

_[! Jocelyn! What's wrong?! Where are you?!]_

_She couldn't hold it anymore. The feeling of the pain inside her chest expanded, causing more tears streaming down her face._

_"...I'm lost..."_

_If only her loved ones never abandon her... If only she never existed..._

_._

_._

_._

"Jocelyn!"

Light brown orbs slowly opened when she heard a familiar voice. _'Is that...?'_

Jocelyn slowly lifted up her head from the floor and saw a large silhouette standing on top of the cell from the air vent. The light in the cellar reflected the mysterious person's face, making it clearer to see.

It was no person. It was one of the turtles.

Jocelyn mumbled the turtle's name.

"...Leo?"

"Don't worry! I'll come and get you out of there!"

Leonardo leaped down into the deep cell and breaks the chains with his two ninjato swords. He took a quick glance at her injuries. Dried blood spread everywhere on the floor. He frowned at the sight. Why would they do this? Leo wrapped his arms around her legs and back and shoot himself up from the cell. Eventually, they managed to escape and headed out of the Foot's base.

Jocelyn glances at Leo's bloody arm. "You're hurt."

Leo ignored the painful feeling remaining on his arm. "I'm fine. It doesn't bother me."

Jocelyn knew that was a lie. No wound would hurt if it was that deep.

But Jocelyn didn't understand. Why did he save her? He even risked his life to save her. Wasn't she an annoyance to him? She was about to reveal his identity to the world, so why?

She needed an answer. "Why'd you come?"

Leo gave no response. He kept leaping from building to building.

"You should have left me down there. I only cause you trouble. If you wanted to delete the video, wouldn't be better if I was dead?"

That last sentence caught Leo's attention. It was a bit cruel when she thinks about such things to herself, but she knew it was the truth. The turtles had to risk their lives to save her.

"Look, even though you've caused all that trouble for us, it's not your fault. I won't leave you behind. I'm no bad guy."

"..."

"And forget about the video. We've took care of the problem."

What? They solved it?

"How?"

Leo nervously chuckled. "We've, uhm... kind of threatened your aunt not to send or tell it to anyone." He made a timidly wide grin at the human girl.

Jocelyn glared at him. Was it their thing to threaten innocent people? She was about to protest until she caught the sight of the turtle's smile. It seems to be...striking. Beautiful. His straight and perfect white teeth, it was surprisingly appealing to her.

She couldn't look away and gave him a weak smile.

Leo continued his way jumping on building to building. Everything was back to normal. Well, almost. Meeting more people might be a bit too much to hide his and his brother's identities, but Leo believes that he can trust them. Although to him, Jocelyn was mysterious.

Previously, he thought she was the clumsy girl with an attitude. But now, she seemed... different. Jocelyn appears more calm, quiet, and depressed. Something must've happened while she was down in that cellar. Then he recalled her saying something about herself being dead. Leo suddenly began to worry. He hoped nothing bad will happen to her.

"What you said about you being better off dead..."

Jocelyn raised an eyebrow. "...Yeah?"

"Don't assume that to happen. From now on, I'll protect you."

Jocelyn looked confused. "...Why?"

Honestly, he didn't know why. It just came out from his mind. "Because... I protect the people I care about."

"..."

"I told you before that I won't leave you."

She was speechless. Jocelyn wasn't sure if he protected her because she was just a harmless human being. But someone saved her from giving up life. He rescued her because he cared. Cared about her. Now she has a reason to live. And she's very grateful for that.

With tears blurring her vision, new fresh ones fell down her cheeks and she started to sob. Leo jolted in surprise. "A-Are you alright?"

Jocelyn nodded in response and whimpered softly. She leaned in against his plastron.

"T-Thank you...thank you for not leaving me..."

Leo gave her a tender smile, tightening his grip of her body. "Just hold on. We'll fix up those wounds."

* * *

><p>The three turtles landed on the rooftop, out of breath. They all sighed in unison after escaping from the foot base, fighting against many foot soldiers. Raph thought for sure him and his brothers would beat them but there was countless of foots soldiers in every corner. And Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface didn't make it any easier for the turtles to claim their victory.<p>

Raph gasped for air. "We...made it..."

Exhausted, Mikey dropped his nun-chucks and collapsed on the ground. "Dudes...I'm never going to do that again..."

Thankfully, the turtles were all safe. Well, almost all.

Looking back at the foot's base. Raph wore an expression full of anxiety. He continued to be concerned about Leonardo still remaining inside the base.

The three wounded turtles heard a gasp from a distance. Darcy appeared from the rooftop looking at the turtles in astonishment. "What happened?!"

Peter followed his mother from behind. "Turtles hurt!" He ran beside between Raphael and Michelangelo.

"Miss Stone... don't worry," said Donnie still worn out. "Leo is saving Jocelyn now."

Darcy whimpered beneath her hands and sobbed. Thank god, she's going to be alright. "Thank you... thank you so much..."

The turtles gave a sympathetic smile in response.

Peter sniffled, sighting the turtles badly damaged. "Are you okay...?"

Michelangelo gave a huge grin, ruffling his curly brown hair. "We're alright kiddo! Thanks to my bro, Raph here, we made it out safely!" Mikey earned a smile from his brother Raph. Peter nodded in relief that the turtles were alright.

Unexpectedly, Leo appeared on the rooftop, still carrying the young female in his arms. "You guys! You made it!"

"Leo!" they all exclaimed in unison, dashed towards him.

"Thank goodness, you're safe!" said Raph in reassurance.

Oh? Raph was worried? Leo smirked at his brother. "Missed me that much, huh Raph?" Leo's smile grew sighting Raphael pouting and looking away in response. But he was still thankful that his brother was safe.

Mikey tackled hugged him and kissed his head multiple times. "Leo, my bro! You're alive!"

Leo laughed and pushed his youngest brother off of him. "Alright, Mikey, enough. I'm fine."

However, he really wasn't. Donatello spotted Leo's bloody wounded arm and leg. "You're injured, Leo. You need to be treated pronto."

The turtles expression instantly changes, glancing down at the crying girl in Leo's arms. They all frowned at the sight of her grazed limbs. How could they torture an innocent girl?

Leo gently puts her down so she could stand. Jocelyn glances at her aunt and her baby cousin with tears on their faces.

Darcy approached to her niece. "Jocelyn. Hon'." Jocelyn wrapped her arms around her aunt's neck and began to sob. Aunt Darcy hugged back her niece into a tight embrace. She was relieved that her niece is safe.

"Sis..."

Jocelyn glanced at her baby cousin, hot tears streamed down his face. "You lied, Sis...you promised you won't get hurt..."

More tears streamed down her cheeks and tightly embraces her baby cousin. She can hear him crying loudly. "I'm sorry, Peter. I'm so sorry..."

The turtles watched the family crying, thankful that they were back together again.

Leo smiled at the sight, looking over to his brother. "Great job, guys."

* * *

><p>"YOU FOOLS!"<p>

The three foot soldiers winced, startled by Master Shredder's holler.

The whole foot base was a wreck. Glass from the windows shattered to pieces and the walls collapsed. It was a sight of failure for the Foot Clan.

Shredder stares down menacingly at his soldiers. The pitiful three soldiers failed to do as they were told; to whip the girl until she answers the question. Unfortunately, they let her escape with the turtles.

One of the foot ninjas stuttered "M-Master Shredder. We thought-"

"You thought?" Shredder said cutting his sentence off. "Despicable soldier. You 'thought' wrong. You let them escape! The girl was the key to find Hamato Yoshi!"

The second ninja attempted to speak," M-Master, we-"

"SILENCE!"

The three foot soldiers shuddered in fear. They never seen their master this angry and fearsome before.

Shredder had enough of the three foot soldiers making ridiculous excuses. The three disobeyed his orders and will now pay the consequences. Shredder glances at Rahzar. "Bradford! Send these hooligans to the dungeon! And keep them out of my sight! Now!"

Rahzar bowed in response, following Shredder's orders. "With pleasure." He growled at the soldiers while they begged for mercy.

Watching his soldiers getting dragged away by Bradford, Shredder slouched down his chair. "Ignorant soldiers. What a disappointment to the Foot Clan."

"What are we going to do now, Father?" asked Karai, standing beside him.

Tiger Claw snarled. "Perhaps we could end the soldiers for messing with our plan."

Shredder thought to himself, wish to get new foot soldiers; soldiers who would be excellent in ninjitsu skills and listen to his every command. When Tiger Claw mentioned about eliminating the soldiers, Shredder thought of a new plan to get revenge. A plan to replace these worthless ninjas and create stronger and new soldiers.

"Contact the Kraang," demanded Shredder. "I would like to ask them a favor."

"Yes, Master Shredder," bowed Tiger Claw leaving Shredder and his daughter alone.

Karai glanced at her father in confusion. "Why call them?"

Shredder narrowed his eye lids at his daughter. "I will not explain until it arrives," stated Shredder, heading where Tiger Claw went.

Karai thought to herself that her father was planning something big that he wouldn't even tell her. But she's going to find out soon.

-End of Chapter Five

* * *

><p><strong>~~~AN: Read&Review! Here's a sneak peek from the next chapter:**

_"But Master Splinter, what if the Shredder strikes her and her family again?"_

_"She likes you."_

_"Jocelyn, perhaps you could introduce yourself."_

_"I can relate the yellow squishy dude as me."_

_~xpetunia~_


	9. Chapter 6: Beneath the Sewers(1)

**~~~Author's Notes: Thank you all for the support in this story! We almost reached 2,000 views in this story! Amazing! And a special thanks to divergentlover523 who reviews and fully supports me and my real-life friend who makes doodles of the story in GooglePlus! Check it out if you're curious. :)**

**In the previous chapter...**

**_After invading the Foot Clan's base, the turtles eventually landed to safety with a couple of injuries and wounds. Rescuing the girl, Leo promised Jocelyn to protect her and wouldn't leave her. Safely heading back to the apartment, the Stone family were all alright. However, Jocelyn is still damaged inside when she reminded herself about her past... And is Shredder joining forces with the Kraang?_**

****For those of you readers who are confused, don't be afraid to message me! I'll try to answer them clearly for you the best way I can! Like I stated in one of my notes, THIS STORY DOES NOT GO IN ORDER IN THE SHOW. I had to make arranges on some things to it if I wanted to make the story interesting and more clear.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: Beneath the Sewers<strong>

Author's POV

The large clock in the living room struck twelve, playing a musical tone. The four wounded turtles were covered in bandages and had gathered themselves in a spacious room inside the apartment building, letting Darcy fix up their injuries. Darcy was almost finished with Raphael's wounds. As she worked, the turtles explained their whole situation and why the Foot Clan captured Jocelyn. Her niece and her adopted son watched the turtles in fascination. After explaining everything, her niece told her full reason to the turtles why she recorded them.

"So basically, you recorded a video of us in your phone to help out your aunt's work?" asked Donnie glancing at the young female.

Jocelyn slowly nodded. "Yeah..."

Darcy sighed in distress. "My goodness, hon'. You should've said so sooner before causing all this mess."

Jocelyn lowered her head. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. You tried to help."

Mikey grinned cheerfully while holding Peter on his lap. "Yeah! It's all cool, bro! We know it's rough!"

Jocelyn nodded again, gently rubbing her left wrist.

Darcy was glad her niece had attempted to help her out, but the turtles risked their lives to save her niece. If she revealed the turtles to the world, it wouldn't be fair. Darcy sighed to herself. She'd have to find a new job soon, wouldn't she?

"Ow! Watch it!"

Darcy looked up at the grumpy turtle wincing in pain. "Sorry, dear. You should stay still." While she wrapped the bandage around his arm, the red masked turtle mumbled something underneath his breath that she couldn't hear. She ignored him. "So you live in the sewers?"

"We do," stated Donnie. "The sewers happen to be the only place we can keep hidden, since we're being chased by the Foot Clan, the Kraang, and humans." He chuckled. "Raw sewage seems to repel them all equally."

"Humans chased you?"

Donnie's laugh turned anxious. "Well, not quite yet...hopefully it won't happen."

Mikey continued to smile. "You get use to the smell once you live there for..." He began to count the years they lived there with his fingers and toes, but ran out at twelve. "Uh...how long have we lived there, Don?"

Donnie frowned, looking at his little brother with half lidded eyes. "Fifteen."

"Right! Fifteen days!" Mikey watched his brother slapped him face.

Darcy and Peter cringed. They both realized the four turtles had lived stuck down there for their entire life.

Raph smirked at Mikey. "I dunno, Mike. The smell could be from you."

Mikey frowned. "Hey! That's not true!" Then, he sniffed at his armpits. "Is it?"

Peter laughed. "Mikey smells!"

Mikey's face-splitting grin returned. "Dudes! I can't believe it! He said my name! He said _my_ name!" He got in Raph's face. "Ha! IN YO' FACE!"

Raph rolled his eyes and shoved him away while Darcy chuckled at the sight of Mikey cheering.

Jocelyn still kept her head down, continuing to rub her scarred left wrist from those few cuts years ago. Reminding herself of the incident, she could feel her blood turning cold. Just thinking about it frightened the life out of her. Trying to kill herself like that was wrong. She didn't know why she did something so drastic. Perhaps it was because she was depressed that her parents had never showed up. Maybe it was because she existed yet no one seemed to give a damn about her. But Jocelyn knew she was scared of dying. And she didn't want to be anywhere close to that tragic fate again.

"You okay?"

Jocelyn whipped her head up, not expecting to see Leo looking at her. How long was he staring at her?

"Oh, uhm...yeah," She took a glance at Leo's bandages. "Are you?"

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine," he said, staring at her wrist. Leo was mostly concerned about the girl. "Does it hurt?"

Jocelyn noticed where he was staring at and immediately stopped what she was doing. "No...no it doesn't." She broke eye contact with the blue masked turtle, pretending she was watching Mikey happily dancing. But Jocelyn knew in the corner of her eye that Leo was still staring at her with a worried look.

Jocelyn spotted Bubba coming towards Donnie. The dog wagged her tail happily while Donnie ruffled her long white fur.

Jocelyn smiled. "She likes you."

Donnie looked slightly surprised. "Really?" Jocelyn nodded and watched Donnie form a gap-toothed smile when Bubba snuggled against his knee. "Huh. I don't know why."

Jocelyn smiled and slowly glanced back at Leo. He was still staring at her. She quickly looked away from him and nervously bit her cheek, feeling her face heating up. _'Why is he still looking over here?'_

Once Darcy finished wrapping the bandage around Raphael's arm, Raph stood up and grabbed Leo's attention. "Alright, Leo. Now what?"

"Well, we should tell all of this to Master Splinter."

Peter gasped. "There's another one of you guys?!"

Watching the little boy made Leonardo chuckle. "Sort of."

Peter happily cheered, leaping onto Mikey's lap, quite excited to meet the other creature.

Mikey laughed at the sight. "Dudes! I'm lovin' this kid!"

"Then you can stay here for a while, Mikey, in case the Foot comes after them again," stated Leo, heading towards the window. "The rest of us will go to Master Splinter."

Donnie got up from his seat to follow his brothers until the dog started to whine. Donnie smiled and patted her fur. "I'll be back soon."

Before Leo, Raph, and Donnie left the building, someone spoke up.

"Wait."

The three turtles turned around. Jocelyn stood in front of them. Once she had their attention, the girl hesitated and bit her bottom lip.

"Uhm...thank you...and...I'm sorry for causing you trouble..."

Leo gave a genuine smile. "It's not your fault. Whatever happens, we'll be there for you."

Jocelyn glanced up at Leonardo and smiled, watching the three turtles leap off the building and into the sewers.

* * *

><p>Splinter POV<p>

Back in the lair, Splinter continued to wait for his sons to return safely. How long had his sons gone? Splinter was unsure. He couldn't remember how long he'd been waiting in the same spot for them. Probably for hours.

Splinter could feel anxiety in the pit of his stomach. Perhaps sending his sons to the Foot Base was a dreadful idea. What could have happened to them? What if they didn't return? What if his sons were-?

Splinter took a deep breath and shook his head. No, he shouldn't doubt his sons. They were brave, strong. They could survive on their own.

"Master Splinter!"

Splinter's ears popped up hearing the voice of Leonardo, followed by Raphael and Donatello.

He mentally sighed in relief. "My sons. You're safe," he looked around to find his youngest son. "Where's Michelangelo?"

"He's still up on the surface with that girl," stated Donatello, pointing upwards.

Splinter looked at the bandages wrapped around his children's bodies. "What happened?"

"We were attacked by the Foot. I assume they captured the girl as bait."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Mr. Obvious," he said sarcastically. "'Cause _clearly_ we didn't know about that."

Donnie ignored his brother. "Anyways, we got separated from Leo and fought the rest of the Foot. But thankfully, Raph was able to lead us to escape safely."

Splinter nodded, impressed by Raphael. "I see. Well done, my son."

Raph smirked and folded his arms behind his head. "Well, well. Maybe I should have been the leader of the team."

Leonardo rolled his eyes at his brother. "In your dreams, Raph."

Splinter glanced at the bandage wrapped around Leo's upper arm. "What has happened to you, Leonardo?"

Leo hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. "Well...I fought Shredder."

They all looked surprised, especially Master Splinter. He fought the Shredder?!

"You what?!"

"B-But I got away!" he reassured. "I had to escape. I couldn't have beat him. I had no chance of defeating Shredder. I had to save..." Leo stopped himself, remembering what happened to the girl back in the cell. "...I went to save her instead."

Splinter looked at his eldest son, noticing his expression had suddenly changed. "Leonardo, there is no such thing as luck or chance when fighting the Shredder. However, it was a wise choice to not to fight him. So, do not fret, my son. You will get the chance in defeating the Shredder one day."

After his response, Leonardo slowly nodded and lowered his head.

"But Master Splinter, what if he strikes at her and her family again?" asked Donatello, wearing a curious expression. "The Foot already knows where they live."

Splinter stroked his beard in thought. He knew it would come to this. The family was now in danger from the Foot. And there was only one way to keep them safe.

"Then they must live here with us."

The turtles eyes' bulged. "WHAT?!"

"For how long?!" exclaimed Raphael in disbelief.

"Two weeks, perhaps," stated Splinter while looking down at his sons. "My sons, it is the only way to keep them in safety. We have involved them in our problem. We must take responsibility."

"...Hai, Sensei," they said in unison.

Splinter nodded. "You may go."

As the three headed out to the surface, Splinter stopped one of his sons. "Also, I will be looking forward into meeting this girl of yours, Leonardo."

Leo glowered, hearing his brothers chuckling and smirking from behind as they went back to the surface.

Splinter lifted his eyebrow, slightly puzzled. Had he said something wrong...?

Or was his son just embarrassed?

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

Mikey patiently waited for Darcy and Peter as they made warm soup for Jocelyn in the kitchen.

Glancing at the girl, Mikey could see she was upset about something back in the Foot's base.

"Soooooo you okay, girl?"

Jocelyn twiddled her fingers. "Yeah...I am."

Mikey frowned. "You don't have to lie."

She looked slightly alarmed. Jocelyn thought Mikey probably found something in the tone of her voice or her facial expression that made it clear that she was lying.

"Alright...I'm not..."

Mikey tilted his head in confusion. "How come?"

"After what happened...I remembered something that I wish I hadn't."

"And what's that?"

Jocelyn hesitated to answer his question. "That...I can't tell."

"Oh...okay."

Awkward silence filled the room. They could hear nothing but the sound of utensils and pots clanging together from the kitchen. Jocelyn bit her cheek in shame. She didn't meant to be rude to Mikey. If she reminded herself about the past again, she might have an emotional break down again.

"But...I guess I can show you an...example..."

Once Mikey nodded his head, Jocelyn got up from the sofa and went to get something from the drawer. Mikey's eyes glittered, watching the girl return holding a large bag of gummy bears.

"These will be the example."

Mikey chuckled. "Haha! Gummy bears..."

Jocelyn rolled her eyes and smirked at the turtle. "Okay, okay. I know it's funny but go with it."

Jocelyn took out four different colored gummy bears and placed it on the table.

"There once lived four gummy bears who were a happy family. Or so the yellow gummy bear thought. It did not realize it was living in a world full of despair. As the four bears grew up, things began to change and later on, the rest of the bears abandoned the yellow bear. Do you know why?"

Mikey slowly frowned and lowered his head. He knew what she was talking about. Her dreadful past still haunted her. So that's why she was all depressed about when they rescued her.

And the weird part of it is, he could relate it to himself.

Receiving no response from the turtle, she continued. "The yellow one didn't know why either too. Whether it was because its family didn't want it to exist or because it made one simple mistake, in the end, it was left alone and was never loved."

Mikey pouted. "I hated that ending."

Jocelyn gave a small shrug. "All stories don't have to end in a good way."

"Why'd you pick the yellow guy, though?"

"It has a sour taste to it so it's the perfect example."

Mikey grabbed the yellow gummy bear from the table and dropped it into his mouth. His face gradually cringed as he chewed it. "It is a bit sour. But I kinda like it best."

"Why's that?"

"I can relate the yellow squishy dude as me."

Jocelyn realized what he was talking about. "But your brothers...they didn't leave you. That means you are loved."

"Nah, there are times I get lonely when my brothers get mad and call me annoying. They never appreciate me and always blame things on me. My bros and I do have rough times, but we still love each other like a family," Mikey grabbed the large gummy bear bag and ate more of the yellow gummies. "But y'know what dudette? Even though the green, red, and clear gummies left you, you were still loved right? If not, you wouldn't even be here!"

Jocelyn stared at Mikey with wide eyes in realization. The turtle was right. If she wasn't loved, she would have never existed in the family. She was raised by her family, if not her immediate family.

The girl smiled. "Yes...yes, you're right." Mikey grinned widely her. "Thank you, turtle."

"Just call me, TheAwesomeMichelangelo! But everyone else calls me Mikey."

"Jocelyn Stone. But you could call me Jo for short."

"Alright~! Cool to meet'cha, Jo!"

When Jocelyn smiled back at Mikey, she noticed Peter and Aunt Darcy coming from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of hot soup.

Peter grinned at his cousin. "Here you go, Sis! Your favorite!"

Jocelyn gasped and beamed. "Is this corn soup?!"

Peter happily nodded. Jocelyn recalled her love of corn soup, which began when they went out to eat in a Chinese restaurant. It was truly her favorite soup ever.

"Momma helped!"

"Oh my god, yaaasss! Thank you!" Jocelyn quickly began to slurp it all.

Mikey burst out laughing. "Man! Girl, you are _hungry_!"

While Aunt Darcy giggled at the sight, she noticed a couple of black silhouettes opening the window. The black figures became clear while they entered, revealing themselves to be the other three turtles. Aunt Darcy sighed in relief. She thanked God that it wasn't Foot soldiers.

"Leo! Don! Raph!" exclaimed Mikey, going towards them.

"Mikey, what happened?" asked Leonardo, looking back at the Stone family. They all seemed to be fine, for now. Surprisingly, Jocelyn looked like she was back to her normal self, still slurping at the soup.

"It's all good in the hood between me and Jo!"

Donnie smiled. "That's great! Did you ask her about the video?"

Mikey just blinked. "...What video?"

His brothers slapped their heads in irritation. How could he forget about the video? There was absolutely no explanation why. Well...it was Mikey after all.

Raph groaned in aggravation. "You're suppose to ask her about the video, idiot!"

Mikey winced and anxiously twiddled his fingers, which Jocelyn noticed. "Hold on, hold on! Be easy on him. Since you...turtles been through so much trouble for the past few days, I'm pretty sure Mikey here has a reason to forget about it."

The turtles seem to accept her point. Jocelyn gave a small wink to Mikey; he winked back. "Besides, got it all covered," she said tossing her phone and iPod showing two different videos at Leonardo. "You can delete them. Auntie thought it was wrong to send it to the news since you guys saved me. It should be fair."

Leo smiled at her. "You have my trust."

Jocelyn was flabbergasted. "What? Really?"

Leonardo nodded at Jocelyn, causing her to grin at the turtle.

Leo handed the Apple devices to Donnie, who immediately erased the two videos in them. "Whew! It's all done!"

Raph collapsed on the couch. "Finally! Now that's out of the way."

Mikey jumped on the sofa beside Raph. "Woo-hoo! Let's celebrate!"

"We're not done yet, guys," stated Leo wearing a stern expression. "We still have one more problem."

That got Aunt Darcy's attention. "Wait. What do you mean?"

Leo hesitated to answer. He wasn't sure how they were going to take the news. But it was their only choice, since they had been involved in the Foot's scheme. Leo braced himself.

"You and your family...have to live with us."

The Stone family stared at Leonardo in disbelief.

"WHAT?!" they said in unison, while Peter and Mikey cheered in the background.

"In the sewers?!" shouted Darcy. "For how long?!"

Raph sighed, unhappy as well. "Two weeks."

Darcy sighed in desperation, placing her hand on her forehead, "Oh my goodness..."

Leonardo attempted to convince them to agree. "Ma'am, you and your family are still in danger. The Foot knows your appearance and your location. They are not going to give up until they find you."

Donatello spoke up. "And the only safe place is underground with us so we can protect you. It's your only option."

Aunt Darcy bit her bottom lip. She had to accept it. It was the only way to keep her family safe.

"Alright."

Jocelyn stared at her in incredulity. "What?!"

Donatello nodded at her aunt. "Okay, then you can have these." He handed Aunt Darcy three T-Phones for each person. "Call us on these T-Phones in case of emergency."

Darcy wore a puzzled expression. "Why can't we use our own phones?"

"The Foot could find your whereabouts," Donnie stated, recalling the time when the Purple Dragons stole April's phone and tried to find the lair with it. "So using the T-phones is much safer. They have firewalls."

Suddenly, Michelangelo appeared behind Donnie, startling him. "Just don't say 'T-Phone self-destruct.'"

All three T-Phones exploded, giving Darcy a surprised jolt. Donnie glared down at a chuckling Mikey. "Whoops. My bad."

Donnie was not amused. "Way to go, Mikey! Now, I have to make new ones!"

"Auntie, what about my last day of school? Or work?" Jocelyn asked.

"I'll call work and the school for your absence. Jocelyn, hon'. We need this. You need this. I can't see you injured again."

Jocelyn hesitated. She wasn't sure if she should agree. But Jocelyn didn't want her family getting injured either. She recalled Darcy getting stabbed, and the leader of the Foot telling Jocelyn that her family would be next. She could not let that happen.

"...Okay."

Immediately, Mikey and Peter grabbed hold both of her arms, shocking her.

"Let's pack up, Sis!" exclaimed her baby cousin.

"Wha? Right now?!"

Mikey grinned. "Right now, bro! Right now!"

Darcy and the other turtles watched the poor girl being dragged away by the two hooligans.

"I'll go pack up too," Darcy said, walking towards her own bedroom. "You guys can help out Jocelyn, if you'd like."

After Darcy entered her room, the three turtles heard a loud crash from Jocelyn's room. Curiously, they headed towards where the chaotic noise was coming from.

* * *

><p>"Don't just go through it all!"<p>

Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael peeked inside her bedroom. Her stuff was laid all over the floor and a couple things hung on her bunk bed. Clothing, action figures, books, and undergarments were scattered everywhere in the room. Peter wore his cousin's underwear on his head, playing with two action figures. Jocelyn was stopping their brother from going through her closet wearing her Totoro jumpsuit, which was ripped in half, obviously too small for him.

Raph stared at his little brother in revulsion. "Mike...what are you wearing?"

Mikey turned around and made a fabulous pose. "It's awesome, right?"

Raphael rolled his eyes while Leo glanced at the girl, cleaning and picking up the items on the floor. "Uhm...Jocelyn? Do you need help?"

Jocelyn looked up, slightly surprised, but nodded at the turtle. "Yeah. You can. Thanks."

Before the turtles could pick up the items, she immediately stopped them.

"Hold up! Not that!"

Raph lifted his brow ridge. "They're just boy shorts."

"Y-Yeah, but you do even know what it came in contact with?"

"...Right."

She nervously coughed. "You guys can leave the...undergarments behind."

They all nodded. Moments later, Mikey beamed, holding up an unfamiliar item. "Woah! Bros! Check this out!"

Jocelyn flushed. "Don't touch that! Do you have any idea what that is?!"

"No idea!"

Mikey slowly opened the wrapper. Jocelyn attempted to grab it back from him but Raph shoved her face away from him, causing her to tumble down on the floor. All the turtles looked at the item in a confused fascination.

"It looks like...a diaper?" stated Donnie uncertainly.

Peter giggled. "Sis wears a diaper!"

Her flush deepened. How could she describe it without traumatizing them? "I-It's not for me! It's for Bubba!"

Bubba stared at her in accusatory disbelief.

Raph scoffed at her excuse. "You think dogs wear diapers?"

"Just give it back!"

Before she could reach the item, Mikey quickly pulled it towards him and threw it to his brother.

"Leo! Catch!"

The open item landed on Leonardo's face before he could catch it. Jocelyn's face paled and stood like a statue in shock.

Leo pulled the pad off his face. "Mikey, you shouldn't play around on somebody else's stuff." He was completely unaware what the item was for and casually gives it back to a stunned Jocelyn.

The turtles watched the girl crush the diaper in her hand. They all winced, feeling a dark aura surrounding her.

"Get out."

Before one of the turtles could speak, Jocelyn glared dangerously at them. The turtles, as well as Peter and Bubba, quickly left of the room. They heard the door slam shut behind them.

What just happened?

Darcy heard the door. "What's going on?"

Peter pouted. "Sis got mad 'cause we played with her diaper."

Realizing what he meant, Darcy frowned at them. "Goodness...do you even know what-"

She cut her sentence off as she glanced at the confused boys. How would they even know about female products?

"Never mind."

Darcy continued to pack her remaining items, leaving the boys unanswered.

-End of Part 1

* * *

><p><strong>~~~Author's Notes: Okay... so nothing really was interesting in this chapter for you readers, but Splinter will meet the Stone family in the next part! So be prepared! Also this ain't the end of it. More conflicts will occur soon throughout these few chapters. So look forward to them! :)<strong>

_~xpetunia~_


	10. Chapter 6: Beneath the Sewers(2)

**~~~Author's Notes: HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! We've finally reached up to 2,000 views! This is so awesome! Thank you all so much! And I most likely thank: divergentlover523, Dragonblooded, Anjanie, thebelowaverage, Syrlia, BearFangDK, AsTheDragonFlies, Carzygirl123, He4rtBreaker101, Hiniko, JellOtaku, bluevolleyball, i-like-writing-stories, and other guests who favorited, followed, and reviewed to my first story. Seriously you guys, I don't know how I could thank you enough. You made me so happy. :')**

**In the previous part...**

_**The turtles returned back to the Secret Lair and told Master Splinter about the news. Knowing the Stones are still in danger, they've decided to keep the Stone family in the sewers until it is safe. After having a little disagreement from the Stone family, eventually they give in and packed up their stuff to move in with the turtles. But what will happen when Jocelyn meets Master Splinter...?**_

**WARNING: This part has 5,000 words. So be prepared. ((Do you guys like long chapters? Idk. This is actually the 6th chapter if you haven't noticed. I had to break it into parts so it wouldn't be too long for you readers out there.))**

**So Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Author's POV<p>

"I can't believe we're doing this."

Jocelyn watched Leonardo and Donatello struggle to shove Darcy's gigantic suitcase into the sewer hole as the sun rises from the horizon. Darcy and Jocelyn didn't know how long they've waited for the two turtles pushing the suitcase in the hole. So meanwhile, they watch Peter playing around with Michelangelo while Bubba runs around like a psychotic animal. Well...Bubba is a psychotic animal.

Raphael grunted below the sewer hole waiting for the suitcase to fall onto his hands. "C'mon, guys! Put more muscle into it!"

Darcy sweat-dropped at the two turtles sighing in frustration. "Do you... turtles need any help?"

Donnie glanced at the woman. "We're male turtles, ma'am. And apparently, we do."

Leo stopped shoving the suitcase. "We should've think this through."

"You think?!"

He gave Donnie a dirty look. "You're the one who has the brains here."

"Yes. But apparently someone decided to shove it in here!" Donnie remarked, glaring back at Mikey.

"Hey! That's not my fault!" Mikey shouted back.

Leo's frown deepened. "And who was the one who did this?"

"You guys always blame it on me!"

"That's because...You. Did. This," pointed out Donnie.

Raphael grunted in annoyance hearing his brothers arguing and bickering from the surface.

"...Do you guys always fight?"

Hearing Jocelyn's voice, the turtles immediately stopped arguing. They all blinked and looked at each other.

"Uhm...well..." Leo started.

Donnie scratched his head. "Occasionally...?"

"Yes!" shouted Raph underneath the surface.

Jocelyn lifted her eyebrow. "Uh huh. I'll have you know that you guys continue to argue while it's the morning. Which means that the sun is gonna rise soon. Which means the neighbors are gonna wake up any minute now. Which means-"

"Okay, okay. We get the point," Leo interrupted. "Let's quickly get this done."

Eventually, the turtles got all the large luggage through the sewer hole before the sunrise came and led the Stone family towards their Secret Lair.

Darcy pinched her nose at the powerful stench surrounding them. "My goodness...it's worse than I imagined." Jocelyn rolled her eyes. She would agree that it smelled bad but she experienced worst kinds of smells.

Peter looked back at Bubba running around Donatello. "We can bring Bubba?"

"You could," Donnie stated chuckling at the little boy happily cheering. "As long Bubba isn't a feline then Master Splinter should accept it."

Peter titled his head. "How come?"

"You'll find out momentarily."

Jocelyn lifted her brow, slightly astonished that Peter wasn't really disgust by the smell. She didn't realize Raphael kept staring at her.

"I'm surprised you're not complaining."

"Oh, I am actually. Inside my head," she simply told him. "'Sides, I smelled worse."

Raph scoffed. "Really? Like what?"

Jocelyn just smirked. "You just don't know, huh? You just don't know."

"Aaaand I don't want to."

She burst out a loud laughter. "Hey, you asked."

"Hm."

Jocelyn noticed a bit of annoyance in his expression. "You still don't trust me?"

Raph hesitated. The girl didn't seem like a harmful person now after she let them delete the two videos. "Well, I dunno. Maybe I can trust you a little..." after his response, he was taken aback by her bright smile. "But I'm still watching you, girly!"

The girl chuckled. "It's Jocelyn and you can watch me all you want."

Raphael looked surprised by her response but he kept the frown on his face and continued walking towards the direction of the Lair.

Once the turtles led the Stone family to the Secret Lair, Jocelyn looked around her surroundings in fascination. The place they lived in wasn't that bad. She thought to herself how they got the furniture in the sewers.

"Woah! You guys live here?" she asked.

Mikey grinned. "Yeah, girl! You like?"

"Hell yeah! Lovin' the mini crib."

Suddenly, Bubba barked and ran towards a tall mysterious figure. Peter turned his head and pointed at the figure. "Rat!"

A giant rat slowly walks towards the Stone family and bowed before them. "Welcome. I've notice you met my sons."

Their eyes enlarged at the sight of the giant rat. Wait. Sons? So the turtles father is...A GIANT RAT?

Darcy and Jocelyn faces paled and screamed.

"AHHHHH!"

"I-I-I-It's a-a-a...r-rat...!" stuttered Darcy frightened by the gigantic rat.

Splinter looked down at the white Pyrenees happily circling around him. "You've brought a canine with you?"

Donnie anxiously chuckled. "At least it's not a cat."

However, not all of them were scared of Master Splinter. Peter quickly approached to him and grinned. "Cool!" Peter attempted to reach his beard but he tucked it in his Japanese robe causing the little boy to pout.

Jocelyn glanced back at the turtles. "You weren't kidding when you said he was different from you guys." she whispered.

"I told you so," murmured Leo. "But at least try to act polite to him."

Darcy gulped nervously and cleared her throat. "I apologize for screaming," she said while pulling Peter away. "I'm Darcy Stone."

Master Splinter nodded at the woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Darcy. My name is Hamato Yoshi but my sons call me Splinter," Splinter walked over to the four turtles. "Here is Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo."

Darcy politely smiled. "Splinter. You have wonderful sons. I thanked them for saving my niece."

"You also have wonderful children as well."

Darcy showed her gratitude. "Thank you. Peter is my adopted son and Jocelyn is my niece."

Unexpectedly, Mikey spoke up, "Peter, mah man~!"

Donatello rolled his eyes at him. "Mikey..."

Master Splinter glanced down at the young girl. "Jocelyn."

Jocelyn was slightly startled when he called her name. "Yes?"

"How is my son?" Splinter asked.

Leonardo face paled. _'Oh no...'_

"Son?"

"Leonardo."

Jocelyn wore a puzzled expression while looking back at Leo. He avoided her and broke eye-contact. What's going on?

"Uhh...good?"

Splinter stroked his beard. "I see. He's been meeting you every night, hasn't he?"

Recalling the time when Leonardo and the turtles met her because of the video incident, Jocelyn simply nodded.

"Uhm...yeah, he did."

Jocelyn just blinked when Splinter looked at her suspiciously. She seemed to be telling the truth. Splinter nodded and glanced at his eldest son. "Leonardo. May I speak with you and my daughter-in-law in the Dojo?"

Everybody's jaws dropped to the floor, appalled yet perplexed by Master Splinter calling Jocelyn daughter-in-law. However, Leonardo understood and bowed down. "Yes, Father."

Master Splinter slowly headed towards the Dojo. Once he was gone, Leo turned around to face the girl dangerously shooting daggers at him.

Leo winced at the sight of the girl; her face turning beat red in fury, her honey brown orbs flared in fire while steam blew out of her ears, and her teeth gnashing together. Any minute now, the girl was about to explode.

Obviously she was extremely furious with him.

"'DAUGHTER-IN-LAW'?!"

Leo flinched back but quickly closed her mouth with his hand before she said anything. "Shhh! Not so loud!"

Aunt Darcy crossed her arms also was displeased by the news. "You're marrying to a turtle?!"

"Hell no, Auntie! Why would I?!"

The turtles took that as an offensive remark but immediately brushed it off while Peter pretends to play the trumpet singing the wedding song. Jocelyn shuts his mouth a shot him a glare.

"Not now, Peter."

"Sis has a _boyfriend_!" said Peter giggling at his grumpy cousin.

Raphael smirked at his brother. "Gee, Leo. You're in _big_ trouble now." He loved watching his older brother feeling frustrated.

Leo sighed and faced Jocelyn wearing a furious expression. "Look. I can explain things later. But before we go in the Dojo, there's a few things you need to follow. First, copy whatever I do in there. Secondly, answer every question Master Splinter asks you. Got it?"

Jocelyn hesitated. She glanced over at Aunt Darcy looked unsure but slowly agreeing with him. Was this really happening to her?

"Do I really?"

"Yes. Just this once. And I promise you I'll explain it all afterwards."

"...fine."

"Thank-"

"I hate you."

Leo's smile instantly disappeared.

"You ruin my life, y'know that right?"

Leo just sweat-dropped.

* * *

><p>The Dojo room was pretty huge.<p>

Jocelyn looked around her surroundings of the room in fascination. She has never seen a room like this. Japanese was completely foreign for her. It was done in a Japanese decor with a huge tree in the middle of the room. The Dojo was filled with 13 carpet rugs with a ninja arsenal. This is probably where Master Splinter learns and trains the turtles ninjitsu. It was odd that a room like this existed in the sewers.

Jocelyn spotted the giant rat sitting on the carpet with a mini table in front of him awaiting for his son and his 'daughter-in-law' to come join him. She could almost feel her heart hammering inside her chest. Beads of sweat formed on the back of her neck as she gulped anxiously. Why was she feeling so nervous about?

Leonardo lead the way towards Master Splinter and sat down across from him. Jocelyn followed suit, sitting down beside the turtle.

She glanced down at the food on the plate. Her eyes widened in revulsion that the odd looking food contained with green algae and slimy worms. Did they seriously eat these stuff? She did not questioned them why they have this. It is the sewers after all.

But seriously, are those worms ALIVE?

Jocelyn followed Leonardo as he picked up the chopsticks and bowed while Master Splinter does the same.

**"Itadakimasu," they both said in unison.

**((**Translation: Thank you for the food.))**

Jocelyn hesitated to pick up her chopsticks while glancing at Leonardo. Reading his facial expression, he told her to follow him.

She also bowed down. "I-Idakmanasudu..."

Jocelyn nervously smiled while Leonardo face palmed at her incorrect pronunciation.

She watched Leo and Master Splinter holding their chopsticks as they ate the algae and worms.

Her face instantly turned blue and almost inwardly barfed inside her mouth. They actually are eating it. Hopefully her small action wasn't noticeable from the giant rat.

Jocelyn struggled to grab hold of the worms with her chopsticks. Splinter noticed and glanced over to his son.

"Leonardo, may you help my daughter-in-law using the chopsticks?"

"Yes, Father," Leonardo scooted over to Jocelyn and gently held her hands holding onto the chopsticks. He taught her the way to hold the Japanese chopsticks. "So, you hold this like a pencil and..."

Jocelyn wasn't paying fully attention to his directions. Instead she focused on feeling and watching his thick fingers tenderly stroking hers. Surprisingly, his skin is smooth. His skin felt similar to a reptiles skin but somehow...it was different.

"Got it?"

Hearing Leo's voice cut off her weird imagination as she simply nodded. "Y-Yeah..." Facing down at the food on the plate, she slowly picked up her chopsticks.

Thankfully, Master Splinter stopped her from eating the horrendous dish. "Jocelyn, is it?"

A bit startled by his deep voice, Jocelyn quickly nodded. "Y-Yes."

"Jocelyn, perhaps you could introduce yourself."

The girl cleared her throat. "Well...I'm almost 16 years old and attending in Roosevelt High School. I'm half Italian half Romanian, birthdate: July 23rd. I lived in my aunt's apartment for 4 years..." she trailed off in thought and told him the rest, leaving off about her past. "I like to kickbox and skateboard. Also, I work part-time job at Antonio's Pizza."

Master Splinter and Leo looked slightly astonished that she works in Antonio's Pizza. "Oh? You could cook for us. My sons love pizza."

Jocelyn smiled. "I'd love to. Extra cheese for you?" she said giving Splinter a playful wink.

Splinter chuckled at the little humor. "Why of course. You cannot have the perfect pizza without cheese."

Leonardo smirked, impressed how Master Splinter and Jocelyn were having a comfortable conversation. Perhaps he shouldn't worry so much about Jocelyn.

"And a zodiac of a Leo," Splinter pointed out. "What a coincidence."

Leonardo nervously grinned while Jocelyn's face flushed in reply.

"Now, why is that you liked about my son?" Splinter questionably asked.

She just smiled. "Well I didn't liked him."

Splinter's ears popped up slightly shocked. "You have not?" Leo wasn't really surprised by her response. He knew how much she hated him right now and he can imagine pulling out a list of reasons why.

Jocelyn told him her honest answer. "I'm...a very emotional person. But meeting someone like Leo changed my life. Even though I acted terrible to him, Leo still saved my life from the Foot. I don't think I'll ever meet another guy who's kind, devoted, and compassionate towards someone like me. That's why...I admired him so much."

Leo stared at her, surprised by her answer. Although he wasn't sure if she really meant it, but her truthful words about him made Leonardo smile.

"So what do you plan doing in your future?"

Jocelyn tapped her chin with her finger in thought. "Uhm...I guess I'd like to be an astronaut."

Splinter lifted his eyebrow. "Oh? Why an astronaut?"

Leo was alarmed by her choice for her future. An astronaut? He expected her to become a professional boxer or something but out of all things, she picked an astronaut?

Jocelyn shrugged. "Sometimes I'd like to fly away from here and explore the outside world. Plus, I love seeing the stars!"

She never mentioned the main reason of going to space is getting away from the disasters and cruel things that are happening around the world. Especially when she was raised by a terrible family. Living in a disoriented family made her choose to fly far away from here. For once, she wanted to soothe her mind and lay back down to watch the shining stars and forget about the world. But she couldn't. Sadly in New York, there weren't many stars to be seen at night so it's a disappointment. Being an astronaut may not be her style but it's what she wanted to become in the future. It's her dream.

Splinter nodded at her response. "I see. Interesting. Because my son, Leonardo has his interest in this television show called Space Heroes."

Leo pouted a little while he watched Jocelyn giggling with his half lidded eyes. He can feel both his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "Father..."

But honestly, Leo didn't mind the embarrassment. Because seeing Jocelyn's bright smile made him forget all about it. The sight of the laughing girl made him automatically grin. Leo liked it better when she's smiling.

Master Splinter smiled at the two. Jocelyn was in fact an interesting pair with Leonardo. However, he asked to himself why his eldest son picked this girl. Splinter knows Leonardo so well. He imagined Leo's type would be someone who is skilled in martial arts and with elegance or graceful. But that didn't mattered now. As long as his son is happy, Splinter will gladly accept Jocelyn to the family.

Splinter picked up his chopsticks. "Now my son and my daughter-in-law, let's begin eating."

Jocelyn face paled after looking back at the algae and worms. But she let her bravery take over her and grabbed her chopsticks.

Leo caught anxiety written all over her face and whispered to her, "Jocelyn, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to."

Jocelyn shook her head in refusal. "No. I can eat it. I don't want to be rude." Grasping her chopsticks tightly, she took a piece of algae and a live worm and forcefully put it into her mouth.

Jocelyn inwardly gags inside her mouth when she felt the live worm squirming around her gums and the moist and salty algae on her tongue. And munching it down was even worse. Words cannot describe how the food tasted like. Master Splinter and Leo only watched her overexaggerate on the food like it was poison.

"Mmm...S-So good..." her lying words trailed off as she began to eat more of it. However, she didn't noticed that she grabbed a handful of live worms into her mouth. Now the full pile of worms were stuck and clogged her throat. Jocelyn quickly jumped from the table in panic and started choking.

Immediately, Leonardo gave her the cup of tea and watched her gulping it all. Noticing the tea was still hot, Jocelyn spewed it all out directly towards Leo's face.

Jocelyn frantically sticking her burning tongue out while Leo stared at her with half lidded eyes, feeling the hot tea and pieces of algae and live worms dripping down from his head to his plastron.

This did not ended well.

* * *

><p>After finishing their meal, Master Splinter bowed to Jocelyn. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Jocelyn."<p>

Jocelyn politely bowed. "I'm...sorry about reacting that way. I don't usually eat algae and worms..."

"No, I should apologize. Perhaps we should have eaten the ramen instead." Splinter mentioned remembering there were a couple of ramen soup in the cabinet.

Wait. Ramen? All this time, they had _ramen_? And they just let her eat the algae and worms? Jocelyn mentally laughed in agony. She just made a complete embarrassment out of herself. She could see Leonardo holding in his chuckle and shot him a glare.

Jocelyn quickly brushed it off and smiled. "It wasn't that bad..."

Her words trailed off while Splinter gave her a look, that he can see through her white lie.

"Okay, maybe it was," she admitted. "But it was nice meeting you, Master Splinter."

Master Splinter lifted up his finger in disagreement. "No, no. You may call me Father if it makes you comfortable."

Jocelyn smiled. "Trust me. Calling you Master Splinter will make me more comfortable."

Once he nodded, Splinter watched Jocelyn and Leonardo heading out of the Dojo. He called out his son's name before he left the room. "My son, may I speak with you?"

Leonardo looked back at Jocelyn. "I'll be out in a few," he told her. When she nodded, Jocelyn had left the parent and son alone in the Dojo.

Leo bowed before him. "Yes, Master Splinter?"

Splinter stroked his beard in thought of the girl. "She's...interesting."

Leo just blinked. "Does that mean in a good or bad way?"

"Both. But I like her."

"What? Really? I mean...isn't she...weird to you?" Leo questionably said.

"Yes," Splinter simply answered. "That's the bad part. You've...changed your taste in women?"

Leo chuckled a little. Of course he hasn't. He's still most likely interested in Karai. But truthfully, pairing up with Jocelyn after getting to know her wasn't much of a torture to him.

Leo formed a smile. "I guess...she's just special."

Master Splinter nodded. "She is special. She's _really_ special. But, it's what your heart chooses and I shall accept her into the family."

"Thank you, Father." Before Leo bowed down again, he exited out of the Dojo.

* * *

><p>Jocelyn's POV<p>

"So, I'm just pretending to be his...'daughter-in-law'?" Jocelyn questionably said, emphasizing the word 'daughter-in-law.' Once she came back after meeting Master Splinter, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo told her the full explanation about Leonardo meeting with a female ninja named Karai.

What a chaotic mess they're in. First, it was the video incident and now their Father thinks Leo has been sneaking out to meet Jocelyn but was actually hanging out with their mortal enemies' daughter, Karai. And Splinter thinks Leo and Jocelyn are dating now? Jocelyn just had a major headache after explaining the whole thing. This is all too crazy! Especially when you're keeping secrets from Master Splinter.

"The correct term for it is 'girlfriend' but unsure why Master Splinter called you that," stated Donatello.

Raphael shrugged. "Maybe Master Splinter thinks you're 'the one' for Leo."

She rolled her eyes at him. She highly doubt it. "So why does he like this...Karai girl?" Jocelyn asked.

"He thinks she's different from the Foot even though she's Shredder's daughter," answered Raph. "I have to admit, she's pretty hot but she's still evil."

"And you still kept it a secret?"

"What else should we do? Tell Splinter the damn truth saying that Leo's fallin' for Shredder's daughter? I don't think so. 'Sides, he's our brother. We can't just abandon the guy."

Raphael did had a point. Jocelyn couldn't argue with that. But this was seriously insane. Falling in love with the mortal enemies' daughter? Talk about Romeo and Juliet.

Mikey whined. "Awww so there's no wedding?" He earned a powerful thump on the head by his aggressive brother. "Ow!"

"There will be no wedding and there will be no dating!" shouted Darcy, furious with her niece.

Jocelyn looked at her aunt with half lidded eyes. "Calm down, Auntie. I'm not the one who started this."

Suddenly, she felt her right ear being pulled by her aunt. Feeling the pressure of her ear being pulled out of her head made Jocelyn yelp in pain. Darcy shot daggers at her niece and yelled, "I will _not_ calm down! Hon'! Look at what you have caused this time!"

Donnie watched Jocelyn cried begging for mercy. He told Darcy, "Please, ma'am. Splinter cannot know the truth yet."

Eventually she let go of her niece's ear. Darcy dangerously clenched her fist. "The truth isn't the only thing that hurts."

Mikey rubbed the back of his neck. "Ehehe. That's what Master Splinter said before..." he trailed off feeling uneasy.

Raph lifted his eye ridge. "You actually_ remembered_ that time?"

"What time?" Mikey asked in confusion while watching his brother slapping himself.

Darcy still wore her dissatisfied look. "And you boys choose not to follow what he says to you?"

"It's complicated," Donnie spoke up. "You have to understand the situation we're in right now. Please, don't let him know."

Darcy tapped her nail on the counter impatiently in thought. "...Alright. I won't tell him. But this is your responsibility, not mine." Then, Darcy faced her niece. "And Jocelyn, there will be no kissing."

Jocelyn grunted in annoyance. "Okay, i get it."

"And no-"

"Please don't go any further, Auntie," interrupted Jocelyn.

Once Leonardo came in the room after talking with Splinter, he spotted the girl and smiled. "C'mon, Jocelyn. Let's go."

Jocelyn raised her brow. "Huh? Where are we going?"

"Just follow me. I can give you a mini tour."

Mikey wore a playful smirk and said, "Oooo! So you two can do some kissy-wissy stuff~?" He puckered his lips and burst out laughing while Raph cut him off hitting Mikey's head again. "Ow! Quit it, man!"

Leonardo narrowed his eye lids. "That's not it at all, Mikey. We're just friends," he stated glancing over to Jocelyn. "Come on. I'll show you around."

Once she nodded, she followed the blue masked turtle. Hearing the sounds of snickering from a distance made her roll her eyes.

* * *

><p>Leo's POV<p>

The two headed towards the bedrooms. Leo volunteered to give Jocelyn a mini tour in their Secret Lair. Surprisingly, the meeting with Master Splinter went pretty well; not counting the part when she eats the worms. He showed her which doors were his and his brothers bedrooms and where they cleaned themselves. Leo chuckled when she thanked the lord that they do dental hygiene and wash themselves. Well, if they didn't, she wouldn't even be here...nor even talk to him.

"So, what did Master Splinter say?"

"Well, he didn't really say anything," Leo stated. "But he told me he liked you."

Jocelyn whipped her head up in shock. "What? Really?"

"Yup. So there's no problem."

Except the fact that they both have to 'pretend' that they're dating. Sure, it is a bit of a hassle but they both seem to be getting along pretty good which makes the situation much more easier.

Jocelyn sighed in relief. "Thank god! For a sec, I thought he didn't. Did you see me eating those worms?"

Leo laughed, recalling himself that she made a complete fool out of herself. "I probably won't forget that time."

"Pssh. No kidding."

"By the way, an astronaut?" Leo mentioned.

Jocelyn shrugged. "I like to fly away to the stars."

"Why the stars?"

A sad smile formed on her face. "It makes me forget about the world."

It seemed like a nice dream. But Leo caught the hint of sadness on her smile why she wanted to forget about the world. Suddenly, he spotted a couple scars on her wrist. He recalled the time when she was rubbing it a few hours ago. Perhaps the scars was related to her dream.

"Is it still bothering you?" he asked pointing at her left wrist.

Jocelyn immediately covered it with her other hand. "No, I'm fine."

Leo noticed her quick reaction while her face wore a slight anxious expression.

"Alright, but if it hurts, I'll wrap it up for you."

She looked slightly surprised. Leo seemed like he didn't understood why the scars are on her wrist. Well, he did lived in the sewers for his whole entire life. Even though he did go up on the surface every night with his brothers, they do not know what the real world was like out there.

Lucky. Cause she wished she never knew what the real world is like.

"It's fine. I did this to myself anyways."

His wide blue eyes stared at the girl. "What?! When-"

Jocelyn held up her hands in defense. "Hey, it was a long time ago! It's all good, I won't do it again! I'm not like that anymore! I think I'm not...? I don't know. I'm guessing you...never heard of suicide?"

Leo was unaware by that. But he can tell that it wasn't good. "Why did you do it?"

"Let's just say, the world is a cruel place."

Her response didn't really answered his question but he knew she did it for a reason. Leo decided not to answer back and continued the mini tour. He didn't want Jocelyn to feel uncomfortable and remind herself what happened to the past.

Leo slide open the door, showing Jocelyn a large and mysterious dark but clean room. It also looked cheap too. But Jocelyn didn't mind. It was the sewers after all, not a fancy hotel. "And here's the guest room. Sorry that there's only one room available. It's pretty big so you and your family can fit. I'll get the blankets and pillows before you take a nap."

"Thanks, maid. You're the best.~"

Leo frowned at her playful comment. _'I'm not a maid...'_

Jocelyn stepped into the large Japanese room and looked around. "It's pretty empty."

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we never had the time to put some furniture in here," he said.

"...Mind if I decorate?"

Leo stared at her slightly surprised. "I can't see why not."

Leo watched her quickly running out of the guest room and a few seconds later came back with her suitcase. He had no idea what the girl was doing. He curiously stared at her zipping the suitcase open revealing a couple of colored paint buckets and different types of paintbrushes.

"You paint?"

Jocelyn smirked. "Jah! I do it occasionally whenever I had little free time. But that's not all. I also do a couple of Origami's!" She held up some decorated paper scraps to the turtle. Leo's response was a smile, slightly impressed that she does more hobbies than kickboxing and skateboarding.

Jocelyn looked around the room to see where to paint. She began to stroke her chin.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm stroking my invisible beard."

Leo raised his brow ridge. "Invisible beard?"

"It's my thing whenever I think. Now, SHHHHH!"

She continued her 'thing' while the turtle rolled his eyes. What a strange girl.

Then Jocelyn looked up.

A light bulb popped up from her head, literally. "Do you have a ladder?"

"I can grab one in Donnie's lab. Are you going to paint the whole ceiling?"

She nodded while he continued to stare at her in curiosity. "What are you going to paint?"

"My constellation star."

"The constellation of the Leo?"

She nodded. "Yup!"

"Why the Leo though?"

"It's my constellation star. Duh! But mostly...it's for you, actually."

Leo titled his head in confusion. "Why me?"

"I guess...it's my way of showing my gratitude for rescuing me and my family," she said with a gentle smile.

Leo stared at her in disbelief and Jocelyn blushed at his reaction, her grin instantly faded away. "And your brothers too!"

She rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe I should add four turtles and a rat too...Or maybe a penguin! A penguin in the sky! Yeah, yeah...that'd be nice too..."

While Jocelyn mumbles her ideas to herself, eventually, Leo smiled back. Suddenly he sighted the scars on her wrist. She really did that to herself? Hurting herself? He frowned at the sight. This girl has a lot of secrets hidden that he did not understood. But he didn't wanted to ask. It wasn't his business to know about her personal life. But that doesn't mean he cannot be concerned about her.

He took a few steps towards the girl. "Don't move."

Once he was facing the girl, he glanced at her left wrist with the permanent scars and gently held it.

Jocelyn flinched by his actions. "What're you do-"

"I told you not to move."

She gulped while Leo smoothly touched the scars on her wrist. Leo stared at Jocelyn attempting to calm herself down. He can feel her heavy breathing gradually slowing down.

"Don't do this to yourself."

Jocelyn didn't make eye contact and stared at the floor.

"Jocelyn."

Hearing her name, she looked up at the turtle staring back at her full of concern and worry on his face.

Leo didn't knew when he started to care for this girl. It just somehow happened. Because he didn't liked the sight of Jocelyn getting hurt. Cutting herself and enemies beating her to death; he couldn't let that happen. Not again.

He let his mind slip off. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Jocelyn hesitantly frowned at him. "I don't get it."

Leo drew his eye ridges together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"About why you're doing this. Doing and saying all these nice things to me," she confessed. "During the video incident, we were arguing and all of a sudden, you're being kind? That doesn't make any sense. Why are you doing this?"

Leo's honest thoughts slip from his mouth. "Honestly, I don't know. I can't fully explain why. I don't know when this all started. I don't even remember when I begin to be concerned about you," he responded after looking down at her wrist. "But there's something hiding inside you that makes me anxious that you may need help. And I need to protect you. I want to protect you."

Jocelyn was all out of words. Her face flushed in deep redness from his words.

"So...if I told you what I'm hiding, will you stop worrying about me?"

"Even if you did, I'd still protect you," he simply answered.

Jocelyn sighed. "I'm not in danger, y'know?"

"Technically you are now. But I wouldn't know if I knew the answer." Leonardo glanced down her permanent scars again. "Just don't do this to yourself."

She slowly nodded. "I know. I won't do it again. I'm so-"

"It's not your fault. So don't apologize," he said cutting her off.

Leo gave her a tender smile when she nodded again. It was a relief that she understood. But whatever she was hiding, he swore to himself that he would protect her. Once he patted her shoulder, he headed towards the door to exit the room.

Leo glanced back at Jocelyn and smiled again. "I'll get the ladder so you can start painting. Let me know when you're done with it."

Watching her smile back, he slowly slid the door closed behind him.

-End of Chapter 6

* * *

><p><strong>~~~Author's Notes:<strong>

**And there's a Leo and Jocelyn moment! So what do you think? Did you like the story so far? There will be more of where that came from until the next chapter! Happy Holidays and will see you all soon! Here's a sneak peek to the next chapter:**

_"You may need some improvement."_

_"Don't think about it too much."_

_"That's Donnie's girlfriend.~"_

_"Yes. I have a request for you."_

_~xpetunia~_


	11. Chapter 7:Developing with the Turtles(1)

**~~~Author's Notes: DEEPLY apologize for the lateness. I've been away 'cause of school and it was a complete disaster But thankfully, I made it out alive! Again, sorry you guys. And me being a procrastinator doesn't help me finish the story on time. And I thank for the reviewers and the people who are favoriting and following this story! We also reached up to 3,000 views! WOOHOO! If you readers want me to keep continuing, lemme me know and review 'cause I need more support. **

**In the previous chapter...**

_**Entering inside the Turtle's Secret Lair, Jocelyn and her family eventually met the turtle's Father/Sensei; Master Splinter. Introducing themselves went quite well in the end and began to gain each other's trust. But when will Splinter know that his eldest son dating Jocelyn was all a set up? Will Leonardo and Jocelyn stick to this plan forever?**_

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! Read, Review and Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Developing with the Turtles<strong>

Jocelyn's POV

Jocelyn had a long and peaceful nap. Probably because she didn't have to go to school today.

The girl rises up from her Japanese blanket bed that Leonardo placed in yesterday. It was still so foreign to her sleeping in one of these Japanese beds that looked like blankets. However, Jocelyn didn't cared. Reminding herself about Leonardo made her smile stupidly.

She judges the turtle too much. Sure, Leo got his ups and downs whenever he's with her but Leo was truly a nice guy-uhm...mean turtle.

Jocelyn stared at the ceiling above. The large constellation star of the Leo stood out well in the large room. She painted the colorful sky deep royal blue that streaked with shades of green, purple and light crystal blue adding with a couple of bright white stars that stood out the night sky. The constellation star was also noticeable to see. Jocelyn is actually impressed with herself. Her painting reminded her of the North Pole. Oh how she wished to go and see the north stars there. It will be truly gorgeous to see with her eyes. She doubted that will happen though. But her painting was more than enough.

Besides she had a huge compliment from Leonardo when she showed him her master piece.

_'Wow! This is amazing!'_

Jocelyn repeated those words in her head. She felt in complete bliss when he complimented her painting. She unintentionally smiled stupidly again but quickly shook it off, noticing her face heating up. She didn't understood the feeling of her heart thumping loudly against her chest.

Oh god, what's happening to her?

Doing her usual morning routine, she headed towards the kitchen to see Darcy cooking food with Peter while Donatello, Raphael, and Mikey were chilling on the table.

"G'morning!" Jocelyn greeted them with a smile.

The turtles glanced up at the young girl greeting them. She still wore the bandages from yesterday that were wrapped around her limbs but she was obviously in a good mood today.

"It's 12 noon," stated Donnie.

Jocelyn shrugged. "I was born a heavy sleeper."

"And a loud snorer," Raphael pointed out while snickering with his brothers.

Jocelyn scowled. "I'm sure I'm not the only one," she remarked.

"Yeah, me and my brothers are the best snoring choir," he said with a sarcastic tone. "You should come join too." Even though it wasn't meant to be hilarious, Jocelyn still laughed at his sarcastic joke.

Mikey wore a huge grin. "Dudes, if that were real, that'd be so awesome!"

Peter beamed up from his seat. "I wanna join too!"

Bubba began to bark and ran beside Donatello eating his breakfast. Donnie grinned down at the large canine. Bubba became so attached to the purple-clad turtle.

"Does your dog eat table food?" he asked Jocelyn.

"We mostly feed her dog food," replied Jocelyn. "But yeah, she sometimes can eat table food."

Donnie settled down his plate to the floor so Bubba can chew on the last meatball. "Here you go, Bubba." Donnie watched the dog happily eating the meatball. "The pasta was quite delicious, Miss Stone."

Darcy gave him a genuine smile. "Thank you, Donnie. And you can just call me Darcy." she told him and looked over at her niece. "Hon', can you get Master Splinter and Leo to eat their lunch? They're in the Dojo."

Once Jocelyn nodded, she headed to the Dojo room. Taking a peek inside the large room, she spotted the large rat and the turtle across from each other in deep meditation.

Splinter and Leonardo recognized the soft foot steps and the presence of the person approaching towards them. Without moving a muscle, Master Splinter spoke up, "May I help you with something, my daughter-in-law?"

Jocelyn got a bit startled by his voice. "Oh, uhm...nothing really. Lunch is just ready."

Leonardo formed a tiny smirk but still kept his eyes closed. "Well, it took you awhile to wake up."

"Wha? How long were you awake?"

"A couple of hours," he replied. "I get use to waking up early."

Jocelyn didn't respond. She stood there and watch the two still remaining in the same spot.

"What are you doing?" she questionably asked.

"Meditating," said Splinter opening both of his eyes and glances over at his son silently meditating."It seems Leonardo is in a deep trance right now. Would you like to join?"

"Uhm...sure, I guess," she simply said, sitting beside Leonardo. "So...sit and breathe, right?"

"Meditating is not all about sitting and breathing, my child," explained Master Splinter. "It is to calm the mind and control your center."

Once she nodded in reply, Jocelyn deeply inhaled the air and slowly exhaled as she attempts to relax her mind. Her body automatically relaxes itself and she gradually breathes in and out. Suddenly, she feels something. Beneath her body. Something was going to come out...

A loud sound of stomach growling echoed the silent room. Her loud grumble disturbed the two from meditating. Splinter opened his eyes slightly surprised and stared at the young girl smiling anxiously.

Jocelyn flushed in embarrassment. "S-Sorry...I didn't ate anything yet..."

After losing his focus, Leonardo tried to cover his smile with his hand however, he let out a small chuckle which made Jocelyn glare at him.

"Well, food is important for the day," Splinter stated grabbing his cane and stood up from his spot. "Come now, my son and daughter-in-law. We shall eat lunch."

Meanwhile, Leonardo and Jocelyn followed the rat into the kitchen. Although, Leo still kept the smile on his face.

"Don't find it amusing!" Jocelyn hissed.

Leo laughed. "Sorry, sorry. It was...unexpected."

Jocelyn sighed in frustration. Another embarrassing accident happens whenever Splinter is around. How embarrassing. Perhaps embarrassment is part of her character.

"Ugh, so embarrassing," exclaimed Jocelyn. "And right in front of Master Splinter too."

"Well, Master Splinter seems alright with it," Leonardo pointed out. "Why do you have to be so anxious about it?"

"Because he's..." she started before stopping herself. Her words trailed off when she caught Leo's eyes staring back at her. His deep blue orbs blinked in confusion and wore a slight curious expression.

_'Because he's your Father.'_

But Jocelyn didn't have enough guts to say that aloud to him. And even if she did, she wouldn't know the explanation why she said it. He'll take it the wrong way.

Jocelyn shook her hair in frustration and just said...

"...nevermind."

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><p>Leo's POV<p>

Leonardo watched Aunt Darcy placing three plates of Spaghetti onto the table for him, Master Splinter, and Jocelyn. The lunch looked great! The salsa had tiny pieces of onions and basil and was spread over the steaming noodles and meatballs. Instantly grabbing his chopsticks, Leonardo slowly mixed the spaghetti noodles with the salsa and plopped the noodles into his mouth. Tasting the noodles with the salsa was simply delicious! He had never tasted such wonderful Spaghetti noodles in his entire life!

"This is a delicious meal, Miss Stone," complimented Master Splinter.

Darcy showed him her gratitude with a genuine smile. "Thank you, Splinter. I'm glad you're enjoying your meal."

Leonardo smiled and looked over to the young female sitting across from him. He watched Jocelyn's eyes glittered at the sight of the delicious food in front of her and made a gigantic smile with a little drool dripping down at the corner of her lips. The sight of the girl made him silently giggle. Even though the girl looked ridiculous, somehow, Leo was attracted by Jocelyn's bright smile.

However, there are times when Leonardo did not liked about his 'fake' girlfriend.

For example...

The girl loudly moaned in pleasure. "Mmm! This. Is. HEAVEN."

The blue leader slightly cringed while he watched the young female boxer gobbling and devouring her meal into her mouth with her feet up on the chair in an impolite way. Leonardo questioned himself if this girl was partly half wolf.

Noticing his long stare, Jocelyn immediately stopped devouring her food and scowled and at the turtle. "What? Is this the first time you've seen a person eat?"

Oh, what a snotty attitude the girl has. She didn't even cared that Master Splinter is watching her eating her food like a hungry mammal. The girl has no manners at all.

"Uhm...do you always eat like this?" He asked her.

Jocelyn shot him a glare. "Are you always this annoying to everyone?"

Leo looked slightly irritated by her mocking his tone. He's never annoying to anyone! ...Was he? Leo thought to himself that he isn't an irritating turtle. Well, his younger brothers thinks so. But that's because he needs to take all the responsibility to his brothers. He wasn't really annoying. And Jocelyn didn't understood that.

Leo only sighed in response, ignoring Jocelyn sending him daggers and flicked little pieces of meatballs directly towards the eye-twitching turtle. However, it's only been a _few hours_ since the little troublemaker herself started living with them. And she's already driving him insane!

He sighed to himself. "But can you at least try to act polite with me in front of Splinter?" Leo asked her in a whispered tone.

She shook her head while munching down her food. "Then where's the fun in that?" she replied talking with her mouth full. "'Sides if I did, that wouldn't be me at all."

He _completely_ agreed with her that she wasn't the polite type of girl at all, according to the way she eats and acts. But still. Splinter'll find it odd why Leonardo picked Jocelyn as his girlfriend.

Glancing back at the human girl, he widened his blue eyes in realization and spotted something crawling on her strawberry blond hair.

_'Is that...a cockroach?'_

Splinter noticed also and tapped on Jocelyn's shoulder. "Jocelyn, there's a bug-"

His sentence was cut off as the young girl shrieked and jumped off from her chair.

"AAAHHHHHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

Leo watched the little cockroach flew off the girl's hair and landed onto her plate. When the roach landed onto the plate, Auntie also shrieked in fear at the sight of the disgusting looking bug.

However, Splinter sat in silence casually continuing eating his meal.

Jocelyn instantly grabbed the fork and pointed at the insect ready to kill the little roach.

"Wait! Dont!"

Donatello immediately burst through the kitchen followed by Michelangelo and Raphael. Donnie swapped the roach from the plate once Jocelyn tried to murder the insect.

Leonardo sighed to himself. Again, his intelligent younger brother was doing the cockroach plan.

"Donatello!" Darcy shouted. "Put that filthy thing down!"

"Don't worry, Darcy. It's perfectly harmless." he reasoned with her.

"Donnie," Leo spoke up. "We're not having the cockroach incident again."

Jocelyn cocked a brow. "What incident?"

"When the roach became a giant monster by touching the Ooze!" Mikey exclaimed, frightening the paled face girl.

"Don't even remind me..." muttered Raphael, leaning his shell against the counter.

"Trust me, Leo. It'll be a success this time! I'll make sure he doesn't come close to the mutagen this time."

"Donnie, it's a _bug_." Jocelyn told the purple-clad turtle. "We don't even know where they wonder off to."

Leo blinked. "You're...afraid of bugs?"

"Jocelyn has a phobia of bugs." Darcy simply told Leonardo.

Jocelyn pinched her nose bridge in annoyance. "Auntie..."

"Huh. Really?" he said giving her a cocky smile. Just like his brother, Raphael. The same snotty attitude and their fears of little insects. What a coincidence.

Leonardo received a rough punch onto his plastron. Before she wore a devilish smile in triumph, he groaned in pain. "Ow! Was that even necessary?"

Raphael grunted. "As long as you keep that thing away from me and the mutagen..."

"Oooooo! Can I still have the Raph T-shirt this time?"

Raphael growled at his youngest brother before tackling him to the floor.

Darcy let out a sigh, attempting to break the two brothers apart. "Boys, please. I just organized the utensils." She told them in frustration.

"So you have bug phobia?" Donatello asked, ignoring the riot between Raph strangling Mikey. "Do flies count?"

Jocelyn scoffed. "Nah, they're just annoying little pests."

"Ants?"

Jocelyn anxiously bit her lip. "Ants...started the whole bug phobia thing..."

Mikey unintentionally shoved Donnie out of the way, going up on the girl's face. "Woah, cool! How?"

Jocelyn pondered, recalling the time when she started the bug phobia. "Let's just say...they somehow crawled inside my pants-can we not talk about this?"

Leonardo had no words. He couldn't explain why his youngest brother was so fascinated by this.

"Awesome!" he beamed in thrill. "Did you got the phobia from your parents or something?"

Silence filled the room. The atmosphere quickly changed as Master Splinter immediately paused himself from eating his meal. Leonardo noticed the girl's frustrating expression instantly fading away. Jocelyn couldn't inquire the orange-clad turtle's sudden question. Especially when it involves her parents.

Peter tapped on Mikey's arm, getting his attention.

"Mikey," Peter whispered into his ear. "Don't talk about Sis's mommy and daddy..."

Realization hit the clueless turtle through his thick skull. "Oh man! I'm sorry, Jo! It was by accident!"

Jocelyn waved her hands in defense. "No, no! Mikey, it's fine. I was just...I mean, you, didn't mean to..."

Darcy stared at her with sympathy in her emerald eyes. She gently placed her hand on her niece's shoulder.

"Hon'-"

"_NO_," Jocelyn swapped her hand away. "I'm _fine_!"

Jocelyn slowly enlarged her brown eyes in realization. Everyone in the kitchen stared at the girl stunned by her sudden action.

Oh, God. She lost control again.

"Please excuse me for a moment."

Darcy called her name before her niece sprinted out of the kitchen, running away from the dramatic scene the girl had caused.

"...What just happened?" Raphael abruptly spoke up, breaking the silence atmosphere.

"I apologize," Darcy said glancing back at them. "She's mostly like this sometimes."

Splinter got up from his seat after he studied the whole scene that currently happened. "It's not your position to apologize, Miss Stone," he answered. "My youngest son was unaware of the situation."

"Don't meant to interrupt..." Donnie jumped in the conversation. "...but I also don't get it. Was it wrong to mention about her parents?"

Darcy shook her head. "It's not. Jocelyn becomes a bit sensitive when someone asks about her family."

"Well...can we know?" asked Raph in curiosity.

"That...isn't my right to tell."

"Momma," Peter spoke up. "They need to know."

The little boy was right. No matter how long you keep it confidential, eventually, that little secret will soon reveal itself.

Finally, Darcy sighed and explained it to the giant rat and his four sons. "...So ever since my niece was a child, her parents were always preoccupied by the eldest daughter of the family. Jocelyn was still abandoned, isolated. Even though we tried to be there for her, but deep down, she thinks in the end that we'll abandon her too."

Everyone stood silent. Leonardo had no response whatsoever. Despite the girl's greedy attitude, he couldn't see through her façade that she was a depressed child with an intense past hidden within herself.

She thinks everybody is against her.

Thinking that nobody is there for her.

"Why did they...kick her out?" asked Donatello.

"That...I don't know," Darcy spoke in honest words. "She wouldn't tell me about the details. I wouldn't want to force her out of it."

"Geez..." Raph muttered to himself. What kind of sick parents would abandon their own child?

Mikey lowered his head in shame. "Bro, I feel really bad. I shouldn't have talked about her parents..."

Raphael gave his brother a sympathetic look and patted his shell for comfort. "It's okay, Mike. It was an accident after all."

Leonardo looked over to the direction where the girl had left the room. He wondered if Jocelyn was alright. He wasn't aware of his father noticing Leo's long stare thinking about the young girl.

"You should go check on her, my son." Splinter told the blue-clad turtle.

Once he nodded at his father, Leo headed out the room. Quickly, he spotted the girl sitting on the sofa watching a television show in the living room. Her face remained expressionless. But he could tell she was deeply upset by the sudden reminder of her parents. She continued staring at the T.V. with her arms wrapped around her legs and she hugged them tightly close to her chest.

Leonardo slowly approached Jocelyn and sat beside her, making sure to keep his distance.

"Hey."

No word was spoken from the girl's mouth. She continued staring blankly at the television screen. Leo looked over at the screen showing a happy family laughing and having a picnic in the park under the bright shining sun. The scene looked gorgeous but was a bit too cliche. Leonardo thought to himself that she was probably thinking about her own family.

"I'm sorry."

Leo was slightly alarmed by her apology. "For what?"

"For causing a scene in there."

He frowned a little. That was no reason for her to apologize.

"It wasn't your fault."

Leo watched her glancing at her left wrist. "Auntie...told you guys, didn't she?"

Leonardo looked away. He didn't have a response. Jocelyn scoffed. She knew Darcy was discussing about her past to Master Splinter and the turtles.

"That's no surprise."

Glancing back at the television, the screen continued to show a happy frolicking family laughing while playing with the little child. Sighting more sadness in her eyes, Leonardo walked towards the T.V. and shut it off.

Jocelyn drew her brows together. "Why did you-"

"Don't think about it too much."

Slightly surprised by his intrusion, she lowered her head bringing her knees close to her. Leonardo had to turn it off. It'll only make her even more depressed if she continues to watch the television show.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Jocelyn glanced up at the turtle after hearing his sympathetic tone. She stared deeply into his blue ocean eyes full of concern yet so gentle.

His eyes seemed familiar. So nostalgic. But Jocelyn couldn't recall anything from it right now.

A genuine smile slowly appeared on her face. "Thank you."

Awkward silence filled the living room after their small conversation. Only the sounds of voices talking in a distance from the kitchen room was heard. Leo glanced over at Jocelyn uncomfortably looking at different directions whether if he should speak up or not.

"So...why're you still here?" she asked.

Leo cleared his throat. "Uhm...well, I told you I wouldn't leave you. I promised you that."

She looked perplexed yet slightly surprised. "Did you?"

"I did. Remember?"

Reminding herself the time when he rescued her from the Foot's Base, she remained wearing the puzzled look. "That was a promise?"

"Well...yeah."

"Huh. That didn't seem like one, since you didn't clearly stated that it is a promise. If it is one, you have to actually say it."

Leo sighed in aggravation. Why was she making a big deal out of a little promise?

"Are you honestly serious about this?"

"Of course I am!" Jocelyn shouted throwing her arms to the ceiling. "Making a promise is a HUGE thing! Especially when you're a Stone family! Do you know how important a promise is to the Stones?"

Leo just blinked.

"Of course you don't."

"Then...what should I do to make a promise?"

"C'mere! C'mere! I'll show you!" Leonardo was surprised by her mood instantly changed. Perhaps she's hiding the fact that she's still depressed.

But it didn't mattered now. At least she was finally smiling again.

While Leonardo slowly approaches her on the sofa, she put up her pinky finger.

"So, lift up your pinky."

Leo hesitated, glancing down at his fingers. "Uhm...I don't really have-"

"Just lift up your last finger," she interrupted him while Leo pulled out his pinky finger.

"This is called the U.P."

Leo titled his head. "'The U.P.'?"

"Stands for the Unbreakable Promise. 'No second chances. Break it, you die!'" she exclaimed pretending to cut off her throat with her hand. "Peter made up that rule."

"...Do I really have to?"

"Hey, you said it, not me. Now, cross fingers." Leonardo followed what he was instructed to do and pulled out his last finger.

Once the two crossed their pinky fingers, Jocelyn cleared her throat and spoke in a dramatic tone. "Leonardo, the courageous and fearless leader of the turtles, do you promise to never leave the daughter of the Stone family named Jocelyn Stone behind?"

Leo rolled his eyes and smirked at her. He didn't mind her describing him the 'fearless' and a 'courageous leader'. He was rarely called by that from his brothers. So he liked the little compliment.

"You don't have to say it in that way." he said a bit flattered.

"Just say it. Promise?"

Leo smiled. "I promise."

Jocelyn sighed and slouched down against the sofa. "Whew! That took forever. So," her words trailed off while slowly pulling out her pink iPod nano. "Wanna listen to some music?"

Leo flashed her a genuine smile. "Sure, why not?" Once he stuck the earplug in his ear, the two relaxed on the couch and calmly listened to the lyrics of the song.

_When you try your best, but you don't succeed_

_When you get what you want, but not what you need_

_When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep_

_Stuck in reverse_

"This is a nice song."

"It is, isn't it?"

Leo smiled while listening to the words. "It does have a deep meaning to it. Who sang it?"

Jocelyn grinned. "Coldplay."

-End of part 1

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><p><strong>~~~Author's Notes: Aww, what a sweet bonding time for Leo and Jocelyn. Well, not for long... If you're curious to know what will happen next, make sure to review, favorite, and follow the story! I need more support!<strong>

_~xpetunia~_


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